[This chapter has been partially rewritten and corrected in July 2012.]
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and the characters. The song used is Teardrops on My Guitar by Taylor Swift.
Title: Teardrops on My Guitar
Word count: 775
POV: 1st person, Orihime.
Genre: Angst/Romance
1. Teardrops on My Guitar
He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart
"YOU BITCH!"
"ORANGE-HAIRED BASTARD!"
I spun around and immediately caught sight of the couple who was shouting at each other. It was not only today they got into a mini screaming match while walking to the classroom. Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san. The most popular couple in school. Gossips about them spread so widely, they even circulated in the staff room; so popular the two of them were that if you didn't know their names or their faces, you might as well consider yourself dead.
My heart twitched as I watched Kurosaki-kun smack Kuchiki-san's head playfully. She returned the favour all too eagerly with a kick to his shin. He winced (though I knew it was just an act) before smirking at his petite girlfriend. He muttered something I couldn't hear into Kuchiki-san's ear before he scooped her, bridal-style, into his arms despite her ear-deafening protests. I sighed. They would go at it again in the classroom, for sure.
And Asano-kun would inadvertently bite the bait and put oil to the fire.
Then, the two of them would suddenly share the same mind set and kick Asano-kun out of the classroom before calling a truce.
I knew it all too well; there hadn't been a day on which they didn't bicker, after all. Some of us even saw it as part of everyday routine and didn't give a damn any more. But I did give a damn.
I had liked Kurosaki-kun ever since…I didn't know when. Of course, his exterior appearance was enough to scare me off at first, but as time went by, I learnt how much of a big softie he actually was. It started with a crush…just a little crush…which escalated to something I'd call huge crush…and somewhere between the admiration and jealousy, it morphed into love.
That's why my world was torn apart when I knew that Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san were going steady. I congratulated them, of course; Kuchiki-san was my best friend…and Kurosaki-kun was the person I loved…I should be happy to see them happy. My jealousy shouldn't be on their way to happiness.
But sometimes, I couldn't hold it anymore. There's just so much I could do at fifteen, which was, honestly, not much. There had been long and lonely nights, and there had also been tearful nights. It hardly made sense to me, the tears. Apparently, they had a mind of their own.
So, if you saw me with a bad case of lethargy and puffy eyes, you can be sure that Kurosaki-kun was in my mind the previous night.
She'd better hold him tight
Give him all her love
Look in those beautiful eyes
And know she's lucky
Kuchiki-san was kind, strong and pretty; she was the person Kurosaki-kun fell in love with, and I could see the reasons why.
Sometimes I wanted to hate Kuchiki-san. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. I knew it wasn't her fault to be loved by the person I loved. After all, Kuchiki-san deserved Kurosaki-kun. Who was I, a human who barely even knew what was on Kurosaki-kun's mind, to deserve him more than Kuchiki-san did?
So, every night, as I watched the stars and then moon from my windowsill, I always made a wish to the gods that she would always make him happy. So far, whichever deities who listened to me had been nice and kind to my wish. Kurosaki-kun always looked happy, much happier than he was before Kuchiki-san came around.
I was glad.
Or at least, I knew I was supposed to be glad.
"You bitch!"
"You bastard!"
I turned to glance at the familiar voices. It was another episode of Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san quarrelling with each other yet again this morning. A sad smile flickered on my lips. They looked so funny when they were brawling. Kurosaki-kun's knotted eyebrows complemented Kuchiki-san's seething face in a comedic yet beautiful way. Sometimes, I wondered if they would ever stop doing it.
"Give it to me!"
"NO WAY!"
"For the love of God, give it to me, Rukia!"
Just as he shouted at his girlfriend, Kurosaki-kun caught sight of me. I could feel myself trembling from the fear that Kurosaki-kun would tell me off from watching their daily antics unfold, but instead of scowling at me, he instead flashed his trademark smirk and said, "Yo."
I just smiled so he wouldn't see…
…so he wouldn't see how much I was pained inside.
Drew looks at me
I fake a smile so he won't see…
Author's note: I should've not started this with high dose of angst…but oh well…
This is the first story of the series Footprints! Footprints is my project of IchiRuki oneshots collection! There will be 20 stories altogether in this series, I think…but the number may increase depending on the number of reviews I get…SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Tons of HUGS and LOVE for you who is willing to spend a minute to write me a review!