A/N: Yay a new story! Little Butterfly will be on the waiting list because its on my cousins' computer!
Anyway…this came to me one night and I was like… "I need to write this story" and so here it is! The corner café.
Ichigo opened his eyes at the loud buzzing noise near his bed. He outstretched an arm and pressed the 'snooze' button before closing his ocher eyes once again. The sun had barely risen over the horizon. Ichigo was a surgery intern at the local hospital of Kakura town. After 8 years of med school, the twenty-six year old was married to his high school sweetheart Orihime Inoue. He had bright orange hair and brown eyes, his face always in a scowl even around his significant other.
Of course, Ichigo questioned if she was the 'one' or if he should have left her in high school and searched for more fish. Ichigo heard the loud buzzing noise again and this time rose up from his bed, giving the alarm clock a groggy glare. He shut off the alarm before his bare feet hit the blue carpet. Ichigo turned his head to see Orihime sleeping soundly. She works at the seafood restaurant a few blocks from their apartment. Her bizarre cooking actually works there, since the people are used to eating strange things. Ichigo sighed and rubbed his eyes, 6:00am was always too early to get up. He reached the bathroom in a few quick strides and turned on the shower.
Ichigo yawned Just another day…
&.&.&.&.&.
Rukia practically danced out of bed, she smoothed the purple sheets of her bed and pranced into the bathroom. It was exciting, she was twenty-five and living alone (more importantly away from her protective brother). She had gotten a job at "The corner café" and already loved the place. Rukia body swayed to the music that was blaring in the background, she was out of art school and had two jobs. One was previously mentioned and the other was being a student-teacher at Kakura High. She worked at the café in the mornings and in the afternoons she worked at the school.
The petite woman had raven hair that was currently wrapped up in a towel, her eyes were a piercing shade of violet and she had a perfect smile. She buttoned up her white blouse, the sleeves cut off at her elbows, she climbed into a pair of tight jeans and slipped on pair of black adias. Some of the waitresses wore high-heels which Rukia thought was ridiculous because 99.9 percent of the time waitresses were on their feet. Rukia dried her hair and tied it up in a messy bun so strands of her raven locks clung to her face. She grabbed her car keys, turned off the radio, and stepped out of her apartment with a hint of a smile on her features.
&.&.&.&.&.&
Ichigo threw on a dark blue long sleeve shirt, jeans and white sneakers. He'd have to change into scrubs once he got to work so it's not like it mattered what he wore now. He grabbed his backpack and car keys leaving the apartment without a sound. Life after college, who would of thought it'd be so dull? The only excitement is at the hospital…
Ichigo looked at his car and frowned 'I'll walk today…I need some noise to drown out these annoying thoughts.' and with that thought, Ichigo started down the sidewalk. The town was slowly coming to life, cars passed Ichigo and a few people passed by him on the sidewalk. He tried to think back on were all his old friends had gone, it seemed that most of them had lost touch.
( 10 years ago; Ichigo is 16)
"We have to keep in touch!" Orihime said hugging her longtime friend Tatsuki. Tatsuki grinned "We will Orihime!" she said.
Uryu Ishida, the captain of the archery club and sewing club, pushed up his glasses and gave Ichigo a grin. "What are you going to do, Kurosaki? Make a living off beating up punks?" He asked causing a vein to pop on Ichigos' forehead.
"What are you gonna do? Sew up dolls clothes?" Ichigo said with a smirk. Keigo smiled "I think I'll work at a strip club…" he said dreamily with stars in his eyes. Everyone sweat dropped and Ichigos' eye twitched.
"Did you hear about the new girl?" Chizuru asked changing the subject quickly.
"I did! I hope she'll be in our class!" Orihime said with a smile, Chizuru hugged Orihime "Oh hime-chan! You are so cute!" Tatsuki punched Chizuru causing the red-head to back off and nurse her bleeding nose.
"Who is she? Is she hot?" Keigo asked with that perverted twinkle in his eye. Chizuru shrugged, "I just heard there was a new girl…who knows if she'll even come to this school! I heard her brother is so big-city big-shot!" Chizuru said crossing her arms over her chest with a light shrug.
(End flashback)
Ichigo smiled on the inside, that would keep him busy for a while, who was that new girl? Did he ever meet her? He was bad with names and faces…he would of remembered her if he saw her right? It didn't matter though, he had lost touch with most of his old friends. Tatsuki was now some detective, Keigo got to work at a strip club for a few months, Uryu was lost after college…Ichigo liked to think that he fell off a cliff. He always hated that guy.
Ichigo caught sight of a small café on the corner of the street, he laughed quietly at the name, 'The corner café and its literally on a corner' Ichigo shrugged, he could make a stop he had time after all.
&.&.&.&.&.&.&.
Rukia parked her car and stepped out of the vehicle putting on her best smile before walking into the café from the backdoor. She grabbed the green apron from the hook and clipped on her name tag.
"Morning Rukia-Chan!" said a cheery voice from behind the petite raven-haired girl.
"Morning Rangiku!" Rukia said smiling at her friend. In the few months that Rukia worked here, she had developed a close friendship with Rangiku Matsumoto. She had strawberry-blonde hair and often tied it up with a pink scarf while working.
"Ready for a lovely day?" Rangiku asked with a smile Rukia nodded pulling the small notebook with the rabbit on the cover from the pocket of her apron. Rangiku then nudged Rukia in the side at the sound of the bell, signaling that a customer had walked in, "Cutie at ten o' clock!" Rangiku said with another nudge.
"Rangiku, it's almost seven in the morning…have you been drinking again?" Rukia said not looking up from her notepad, she was searching frantically for a blank page.
"What? No! Look woman!" Rangiku said lifting Rukias' chin with her hand. Rukia saw through the small window where orders were hung up, a orange-haired man had just walked in and was taking a seat at a booth.
"So what Rangiku? I'm not interested." Rukia said finally finding a blank page before walking out of the kitchen. Rangiku groaned, "You're going to die a virgin Rukia!" She yelled from the back, Rukia stuck her tongue out at Rangiku from the small window.
&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.
Ichigo plopped down on the seat of the booth, the café was well kept. It wasn't large, but it had a warm atmosphere. There were booths lined up against the windows, behind were he was sitting was a group of small tables with seating for two most likely to separate the families from the daters. Along with a small stage with a black piano, Ichigo assumed that there were small gigs here not rock-bands but pianists or violinists maybe. There was a bar to Ichigos' left, although one couldn't call it a bar because he doubted this placed served alcohol. Behind the 'bar' was the kitchen and Ichigo knew this because of all the bustle he could hear.
Suddenly a crash echoed from behind the orange-haired man, he turned around to see a man on the floor with a waitress holding his arm behind his back.
"Listen buddy! My ass is not pin cushion! Touch it again and I'll break your arm off!" the waitress said before getting off the man who scrambled to his feet before sitting back down on the wooden stool near the counter. Ichigo had to admire the young waitress. She had dark hair that was tied up and the strands surrounding her face seemed to compliment her exotic features. Ichigo turned back around when he saw the said waitress walking towards his table.
&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.
"Good morning sir. My name is Rukia and I'll be serving you this morning." Rukia said with her best smile, 'Rangiku wasn't lying…he is…attractive. That doesn't matter though! He's a guy and guys only want one thing…Rukia Kuchiki doesn't need a man in her life anyway.' Rukia thought before brining back her attention to the said man that hadn't said a word.
"Do you need another minute?" Rukia asked taking a step back, Ichigo snapped out of his reverie. He was just thinking how beautiful she was…but he was married and shouldn't be thinking like that. Yes, She was beautiful he could admire that but she could also break his arm off or any other body part if she pleased.
"Uh…I'll have a coffee please, black." Ichigo said handing Rukia the menu after she jotted that down in her notebook…that had a rabbit on it.
"Okay…I will be right back." Rukia said before walking back, behind the counter and into the kitchen. Rangiku was grinning when she entered the room.
"What?" Rukia said taking a white coffee cup down from the rack and setting it beside the coffee maker.
"Oh…nothing…" Rangiku said waving her hand modestly. Rukia shook her head before pouring the coffee. "Did you see the way he looked at you?" Rangiku asked causing Rukia to look up and raise an eyebrow.
"No…I was busy trying to break someone's arm at the time." Rukia said lifting the cup from the counter, Rangiku sighed.
"Well, he checked you out. Honey, you better strike the iron while its hot!" Rangiku said giving her friend a encouraging push out the door. Rukia growled a curse before heading back to the mans table.
"Here you go, one coffee…no sugar or cream." Rukia said setting the cup down on the table. Ichigo smirked, "You keep looking at me like I'm crazy." He said to Rukia who raised her eyebrow. The waitress shrugged, "I just thought I was the only one who liked my coffee black…most people are like: pour the whole bag of sugar in there please." Rukia said before turning to walk away.
"Wait…" He said causing Rukia to stop and look at the man like he was crazy. "Check please." He said pointing to the slim black object in her pocket. Rukia pulled out the small black book and placed it on his table.
"Enjoy your day, sir." She said before heading over to a booth down a few tables from Ichigo where an elderly couple were sitting. He lifted the book, and slid a ten inside without even looking at the price of his coffee. She deserved a nice tip, she had this air about her that Ichigo couldn't quite figure out. He took another sip of his coffee and slid out of the booth casting one last glance at the waitress…'Yeah…she's defiantly something else. Maybe I'll stop here more often.'
&.&.&.&.&.&.&.&.
Rukia frowned looking at the check, his coffee was $1.79 and he left a ten. That's almost a nine-dollar tip. 'What a weird guy…why would he do that?' Rukia allowed herself to smile just a little bit. 'He has a good heart…I'll give him that.'
A/N: What did you guys think? I was really worried about this story because it's just so different. That and Ichigo is with Orihime! Of course…he has doubts and isn't really happy with her…but we will see more of that later on.
Any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions etc should be placed in a review or you can email me directly at inuyasha432 yahoo (dot) com.