A/N: This little plot came into my head today, and I know I'm working on like two other IchiRuki stories and my one-shot collection. I can't help it! I love ichiruki too much! I blame this story on watching Charmed and reading the 'Blue is for Nightmares' series far too much.
Oh and I'm being ambitious…this whole thing shall be written in Rukia's POV.
-
September 3rd 2008
Dear Journal,
You ever feel like life is moving too fast? I feel that way all the time. It seems like just yesterday Renji and I were young and dancing in the flowers as the summer's sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the grass. I'm a senior in high school, and the year has only just begun. I moved to this town, roughly four years ago, from Hueco Mundo city…Hisana was really worried but look at us now. I can't believe how great my life is at this moment…and yet I feel like…everything has been going all too smoothly and thankfully, no one has found out my secret. I'm a witch. I don't have super powers like the girls on TV but it's my religion and it's tied to my gift. Anyway, I'm going to get to sleep because I have my first day of being a senior tomorrow…to say the truth…I'm a little nervous.
&.&.&.&.&.
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of my buzzing alarm clock and Hisana's heels hitting the hardwood floor downstairs in the kitchen. I kicked off the covers but laid still in my bed, pressing the snooze button. If I wasn't careful, I would fall asleep again and I simply could not be late for school on the first day. I yawned and forced myself to get up, turning off the alarm clock so it wouldn't go off later on. My feet had a slight bounce in them as I walked into my bathroom; everything was neat and orderly as usual.
I brushed my dark colored hair in the mirror and tied it back before I started brushing my teeth. I was always paranoid that I would brush my teeth and if I didn't tie my hair back it would get in my mouth. So as I continue my daily routine, I couldn't help but wonder what will happen this year? Will I make friends or loose them? I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as I proceeded down the staircase and into the main room where I could see Hisana placing a plate of pancakes in front of Byakuya, her husband.
"Morning Rukia, did you sleep well?" She asked kindly with that award winning smile on her face. I couldn't fathom how Hisana and I were related when we were so very different.
"Alright." I replied before stealing a piece of toast from the table and munching on it, I could see Hisana pulling out two glasses for orange juice.
"Not hungry dear?" She said and I heard Byakuya flip the page of his newspaper, that stoic expression on his face, but that loving look in his eyes when he looked at my sister. "No." I said taking the glass gently from her hand and gulping down its contents, the pulp felt like gross seaweed going down my throat but I didn't complain. Byakuya folded his newspaper and smoothed the wrinkles, or imaginary wrinkles that I think only Byakuya can see, of his crisp black suit. I kind of could see Byakuya working with the FBI or something, wearing black sunglasses and having a memory eraser, wait…that was Men in Black.
"You're going to be late." Hisana said suddenly breaking me from my thoughts of Byakuya's profession, my violet eyes caught the clock on the stove and I stuttered out a hurried goodbye to the both of them before grabbing my car keys from the rack and racing out the front door.
The butterflies in my stomach only fluttered more when I got into my car and began driving down the rarely crowded streets of Kakura Town.
&.&.&.&.&.&
I actually didn't even remember grabbing my backpack when I headed out the door, but it seemed as if by magic, it was in the passenger seat when I pulled up the school. Perhaps I was so contained in my excitement that I had noticed the note Hisana had placed on the brown bag reading, "Have a lovely day –Hisana". When the yellow sticky note fluttered to the floor of my car and my slim fingers picked it up I couldn't believe the overwhelming sense of gratitude for my sister. I gulped down the lump in my throat and tossed the note into my glove box.
I stepped out of the car and in the student parking lot, we gathered in bundles to walk to the school. My eyes caught sight of a brown haired girl running towards me waving her arm in the air with a big grin on her face.
"Kuchiki!" She called out and I waited for her, shifting my backpack to the right shoulder.
"Hey Inoue!" I said with a small smile, I still never understood why Inoue and I never called one another by our first names. I guessed it was out of habit since everyone was so used to this 'formal way' of things. Inoue kept me entertained as we walked the short walk to the school, she informed me of her summer and recalled events that we had shared. She told me all the great things that she found at the beach and showed me the seashell necklace her brother had made her.
I nodded and said an occasional 'Mhm' when the time was right. My attention was on the dark aura that surrounded our school, it moved in wavy motion and looked as clear as day to me. So much negative energy, I thought with a frown. A part of me wanted to find the source of this energy and possibly purify it; I slid my hand into the small pocket of my gray skirt and clutched the small crystal that sat at the bottom. I lost track of what Inoue was saying at this point, all I could think of was why this was here? My stomach butterflies were scared away and instead it felt like a rock had been placed in the pit of my stomach. I hated this anxious feeling and it usually meant something bad was going to happen.
"Hey pay attention!" Someone yelled and suddenly I felt my feet lift into the air, a weight press against my chest, and a fiery red in my face. I blinked when I looked at who had tackled me to the ground, "Hey." Was all I could of saying at this moment, it was Renji. I was so damn focused on our school that I realized there was a car and the pedestrians were supposed to stop, I however, didn't.
"You were about to be a hood ornament Rukia! What the hell is wrong with you?" Renji scolded as he offered a hand and pulled me to my feet. I scratched the back of my head and gave one of those cheesy smiles that you see in commercials all the time. "Hehe thanks Renji!" I said and the man rolled his eyes before turning his back on Inoue and I. We all crossed the road in this jumbled bunch of people, some shouting and yelling while others kept quiet. I was trying…so hard…to ignore the feeling in the pit of my gut. I attempted to be intrigued by Inoue's words but nothing seemed to be working. "So then I was at the ice cream shop and…oh hey Tatsuki!" Inoue stopped mid-story to greet her childhood friend. Tatsuki and I usually got along, we were very similar but Tatsuki was very competitive and so was I, so we had many friendly competitions.
"How was your summer?" Tatsuki asked to me, her hair was still short but she added red streaks to the two side bangs, I would have to remember to tell her that it looked nice.
"Good." I automatically replied even if it was far from good, it went by too fast. "Your hair looks nice by the way…" I added and Tatsuki beamed, Inoue began to bombard her with the strangest of questions about her hair. "What's the hair dye made of?" Inoue asked but I didn't hear Tatsuki's answer. I stopped at the front door of the school; the darkness was like a waterfall, pouring from the roof and its smoke dancing around my feet. I felt the back of my neck begin to sweat, but I couldn't just stand here like an idiot. I walked through the waterfall and into the school; I was surprised to find myself completely intact. I reached into my pocket to grasp the crystal…only to find…it wasn't there!
My heart began to race madly in my chest and I tried to convince myself that it would turn up. "Come on Kuchiki!" I vaguely heard Inoue yell, students were passing me, their shoulders brushing against mine but I was frozen. I couldn't move! I couldn't move! Oh god…I thought wanting to open my mouth and cry out. I felt ice against my bare neck and across my skin; it made me want to curl into a little ball and hide away, something was calling me. The school blurred from view and there was a man standing at the end of the hallway. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was smiling. I wanted to reach my arm out, he was pulling me towards him, and I could feel it. "Rukia!" A loud voice suddenly broke me away and the blurred world turned into sharp focus, I felt like stumbling backwards but I stood still.
Renji was standing in front of me with both hands on my shoulders, his face looked worried, I could never be sure with him though. "Vision?" Renji murmured very quietly even though the hallways were almost empty, I didn't remember hearing the bell ring. I shook my head to the negative. "I don't know." I admitted and Renji just nodded pulling something from his pocket. "You dropped this when I tackled you." He said holding out the small crystal, I snatched it from his palm and tucked it away safely into my own pocket. "Thanks…" I breathed before we both walked to class, Renji was quiet and I wasn't in the mood for talking anyway. My brain was trying to decipher what the hell just happened. The teacher didn't even scold us when we walked in late; she was busy on the phone.
"Okay class! Today we have a new student!" She said with enthusiasm. The class's reaction was mixed. Some yelled in excitement, some groaned, while others didn't say a thing. I leaned back in my desk and watched the teacher with mild interested as she opened the classroom door. The boy that entered looked anything but friendly, his face was in an ugly scowl and his hair was a ridiculous color. I only glanced at him for a brief moment before turning my attention to the classroom window, watching the birds dance by and the clouds move lazily across the blue canvas.
"My name's Ichigo Kurosaki." I heard the boy say, his voice sounded bored. I glanced at Inoue and she was practically drooling. I chuckled behind my hand and the teacher snapped her ruler. My chuckled stopped immediately, "Something you wish to say, Ms. Kuchiki?" The teacher said and I racked my brain for something to say.
"His name is funny." I announced crossing my arms in front of my chest. I did not want to be friends with this kid, so might as well start us off on the wrong foot. What kind of name is Ichigo anyway? That's a girl name.
"Oh?" The teacher had a smirk on her face, "Kurosaki your new seat is right next to Kuchiki!"
"What?" I yelled jumping to my feet and slamming my hands onto the desk. "But Hinamori sits there!" I protested quickly even though the kind-hearted girl was sitting there at the moment.
"I have to sit next to that midget?" I heard Kurosaki mumble and a smirk was playing at his lips. My god he was already infuriating me.
"Hinamori was transferred to class B, Kurosaki please take your seat so we may begin." The teacher instructed. I fell back into my chair and gave a defeated sigh folding my arms in front of my chest. I heard the chair squeak backwards and then Kurosaki sit down, I already knew this year wasn't going to go well. First the strange aura and now—wait…the aura. I looked out the school window and then looked at the ceiling, I couldn't feel it anymore. The sinking feeling was gone from my stomach.
Well, at least the day got a little better…I thought taking my Chappy notebook from my bag and opening to the first clean page. I glanced over at Kurosaki, his chin was in the palm of one of his hands and he scribbled down notes occasionally glancing up at the teacher. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I began to catch up on the notes I just missed and out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw Kurosaki look at me.
&.&.&.&.&.&
I was so glad when the lunch bell rang; my brain was going to explode. I thought our teacher would go easy on us since we just got back today. Nope. One hour of taking notes, a half hour of a lecture, another half hour of reading and then ten minutes to get a head start on our homework. Lunch never felt so good.
Until…
"Kurosaki, I'm inviting you to sit with our group at lunch today!" Inoue's cheery voice said to that new kid. My head turned around and my eyes blazed, if he says yes…then I am going to kick his skinny ass right in front of everyone. Kurosaki shrugged but nodded nonetheless and I jumped from my desk, the chair fell onto the floor with a loud clang. "Inoue…" I said with my teeth clenched and just as I was about to take a step forward and give them both a big piece of my mind, I felt a large hand grab my shoulder and jerk me backwards.
"Come on Rukia." Renji said before steering me out into the hallway, even with my protests. "But Renji!" I whined as we walked down the hallway, "Inoue is making a big mistake! Inviting that…that…idiot! To sit with us!" I said with a frown and Renji shook his head.
"Don't worry, think about how when you were new to the school." Renji said and my thoughts became sympathetic for only a second. Tatsuki was my first friend and then Inoue was linked with her. Shortly in the first month, Renji moved here to so I always had him. But this Kurosaki kid didn't have anyone. "Fine. I'll go easy on him." I said with a slight pout as we walked up the stairs and onto the roof. The darkness I had saw earlier that morning was gone and the wind brushed past us, ruffling my dark hair. Renji and I joined Uryu, Chizuru, and Tatsuki. I sat down on my knees and opened up my lunch box, Chizuru and Tatsuki were arguing…as always. I felt my stomach stir as I watched Inoue and Kurosaki come up onto the roof and that orange haired brat had the nerve to sit next to me.
"Kuchiki…" He said very quietly. The roof was loud, as always, with Chizuru fighting with Tatsuki and Inoue trying to get them to calm down. Then there was Keigo trying to get Renji to take him out to go 'girl hopping'. I turned my head ever so slightly and set down my juice box. "Yes?" I answered and I watched as he held his hand out awkwardly.
"We never did get a chance to introduce ourselves. I'm guessing I'll be seeing a lot of you…" He said and I reached out to take his hand.
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Kuchiki Rukia." I said as my hand wrapped around his and feeling the warmth that it produced and not only that. I gasped and turned, both our eyes were wide. Staring at each other but not seeing one another. I saw so many images I couldn't understand. I saw monsters that looked like they were from nightmares. I saw a woman with brown hair smiling. I saw a white faced man with yellow eyes. I jerked my hand away from Ichigo's and we just stared at each other, I idly wondered how stupid we looked.
My throat was dry and I licked my lips before speaking "Did you…uh never mind." I said suddenly as my words tumbled away. Ichigo reached back and scratched the back of his head. "We better…uh…before lunch is over." He said turning back to his food and I nodded quickly. My eyes looked up and it seemed to be that only Inoue and Renji were staring at us. Oh god Inoue was going to assault me with questions. Renji, well he would most likely just ask a question and then forget about it later. There was now this sudden awkwardness between Ichigo and I. Normally, I can explain the things I see but at the moment, for the second time today my brain was utterly lost and confused. I stood up with the others as we finished our lunches and then headed back to class. Of course, as if fate was just trying to mess with me. I ended up standing next to Ichigo and walking right next to him down the hallway. I quickened my pace and he slowed his down, thank goodness. My head was still spinning and I clutched the crystal in my pocket, it calmed my nerves and relaxed me.
No matter how much I clutched that small clear crystal, it didn't stop me from noticing Ichigo glancing at me. I would actually catch myself glancing at him. It was the worst feeling in the world. I wanted to ask him so many questions but I couldn't. I mean what if he didn't see anything or what if this was all in my head. So I sat quietly, taking notes and answering when the teacher called on me. Tomorrow, everything will be back to normal. I told myself and focused on anything and everything besides what I saw and the orange haired boy sitting beside me.
&.&.&.&.&
I was now walking to my car with a group of people. Inoue was asking me what happened at lunch and I assured her it was nothing, we were just introducing each other formally. I suppose she gave up because she stopped talking to me. Renji was talking to Ikkau, his sparring partner in karate. I just wanted to get home. I wanted to fall onto my bed and roll around in the soft covers. I wanted to sleep. I did not want to think about monsters, smiling faces, Ichigo, dark auras, white faces and those eyes.
I don't even remember driving home but suddenly I was walking up the stairs to my room. Hisana and Byakuya don't get home for another hour and my body crashed onto my bed. I buried my face into my soft white pillow and shut my eyes tightly. I focused on the warmth I felt today on Ichigo's hand, I focused on the stupid color of his hair, I focused on the sea shells on Inoue's necklace, and I focused on today's lesson.
"Ichigo Kurosaki…" I said aloud, just wondering if saying his name would make him appear so I could ask him my questions. "You are going to drive me insane by the end of the year." I mumbled before grabbing a fleece blanket and throwing it over my body before my eyes closed and I fell asleep quickly.
-
A/N: You like it? Yes? No? Would you keep reading? Tell me in a review.