Categories > Anime/Manga > Bleach > Strawberries aren't supposed to Frown
Disclaimer: What I wrote in the prologue still applies.
AN: The first chapter of Strawberries aren't supposed to frown (it's such a long title that I've shortened it to "SAStF"). It could be the second chapter, it really depends on how you look at it.
Explanations, an ordinary afternoon, and thoughts.
When Ichigo came back to class after his encounter with Renji, everybody stared at him. The class wanted to know who the hippie-guy was and how he knew Kurosaki-kun. Well, everyone besides Inue, Ishida and Sado, because they already knew all the class wanted to know.
Lunch was something akin to the Spanish Inquisition for Ichigo. Everyone talked to him, tried to get him to speak about the stranger. This caused Ichigo to frown even more than usual, as he tried to ignore them all, but blocking out all those voices weren't easy. Sado came to the rescue as he silently and forcefully dragged Ichigo out of the classroom, backed up by Ishida and Inue, who were fending off those who tried to follow them. They headed to the roof, their usual lunch-space.
Well up there another kind of inquisition followed. A bright and bubbly one. Led, of course, by Inue Orihime, the queen of bright and bubbly. As Inue's inborn curiosity took her over, she obviously did not see the look on Ichigos face. If you had, you would have thought of the proverb "curiosity killed the cat". If the look on Ichigos face was anything to go by, death was soon to happen. His frown had deepened even more. Sado, though, had apparently seen the look on his face, and calmed Inue down by laying one of his hands on Orihimes shoulder.
"What did he want?"
You could always count on Sado to be as short-worded as possible.
"He was bored."
"He was bored?" Ishida sounded like he couldn't believe it. "But what did he want?"
"Well, mostly I think he wanted to annoy me, but he said that he is Rukia's replacement, claiming that the four of us attract too many powerful Hollows for me to handle by myself," Ichigo said. "So they sent Renji to help me out."
"But... why did he come to our school?"
"He was bored. He got his gigai from Urahara-san, got bored and went to find me," Ichigo answered Ishidas question.
"And because I don't want him to come and drag me out of class more than the coming Hollows will, we had to find something for him to do. So he is coming to school with us, starting tomorrow."
The next day, Ichigo woke up with a slight nervous feeling in his stomach. That was probably 'cause he figured that Renji would embarrass him when he got to school.
Well in the classroom he found that Renji was already there, calmly sitting in his seat, the previously empty one next to Ichigo.
As more people came into the room, most not recognizing the guy from the day before, but some glancing curiously at him, not knowing what to make of him, since he now wore their school uniform. When Ishida, Orihime and Sado came in, they didn't know how to behave, but Renji calmly solved that with a "Long time, no see". That way their classmates would assume that he was just some transfer they had met during the summer.
Ichigo spent his day in school watching. Watching Renji, of course. It was actually really entertaining to see Renji start to squirm halfway through their second class.
When the school day was over, the gang trooped out of the room together.
'Phew, finally the torture is over,' though Renji.
"Well, I don't know how you stand doing this day in and day out. I would've killed myself if I were you," Renji stated to the group on their way off the school grounds.
"Then you're lucky not to be us, because a dead Abarai-kun would be a bad Abarai-kun," Inue said. "And we don't want a bad Abarai-kun."
"We still up for that video tonight?" Ichigo asked. They had figured that they had to celebrate Renjis arrival in some way (at least, Inue had), so they had decided to watch a movie. They had all agreed that it would be best to watch it at Inues apartment, as Ishida didn't have a VCR, Ichigos father would be unbearable, Sado claimed that he didn't have space enough for the four of them and Renji figured that Urahara wouldn't appreciate it if he dragged them to his place.
"Sure."
"Un."
"Hai!"
Sado just nodded, knowing that those he now considered real friends, didn't expect him to talk all the time, just the way he liked it.
Ichigos frown had ceased during school, and he had simply looked blank, and sometimes moderately interested. This was an improvement, at least for Inue, who did not like Ichigos frown. But the minute he separated from the others in his group of friends, his frown came back full force. He just had so many things on his mind these days... There was a pressure in the back of his mind, that something in his life wasn't right, that something was missing. That feeling made him frown the most, but it went away when he hung out with Renji, Inue, Ishida and Sado. Mostly any way.
Later that afternoon, he was surprised by a, once again, yelling Renji. This time he was outside his house.
'Is his yelling ever going to stop?' thought Ichigo to himself.
"Hey, dumbass, are you ever going to stop with the fucking yelling?" Ichigo screamed, not even bothering to move from his desk, knowing that his scream would have been audible outside the house.
"Yeah," he soon heard Renji scream back. "As soon as you come out and show me the way to Inues place!"
This time, Ichigo even bothered to go and sit on his bed and lean out the window, so that he wouldn't have to shout.
"It's not time to go yet, baka. Why don't you come in and wait with me? Heck, you could eat here if you want. I'm sure my sisters won't mind."
This made Renji feel... welcomed. Even though it was Kurosaki that invited him to dinner, he'd rather eat with his "kind-of"-friend rather than eat with Urahara-san and be called "free-loader-dono" again.
"Um... sure, if it's alright with your family."
"Okay, I'll come and open the door, just wait there."
Renji was still there when Ichigo came and opened the door. As he let Renji in and started to walk back to his room, he shouted in the direction of the kitchen;
"Oi, a friend of mine is staying for dinner, that alright?"
"Hai!" came his sisters voices back in union.
'Hn, cute,' thought Renji. He had never had siblings, unless you counted Rukia, of course, who was as close as a sister to him.
"C'mon Renji, this way."
"Hai."
Just as Renji stepped into Ichigos room, he stopped and took a look around. 'So this is how he lives,' he thought.
"Like it?"
"Yeah."
And Renji actually really did like it. Not that he knew Ichigo very well (he secretly wanted to get to know him better) but what little he knew about him seemed to fit, here in this room.
"So..." Ichigo sat down at his desk as Renji sat on the edge of Ichigos bed.
There was an uncomfortable silence that stretched over several minutes before Ichigo asked;
"How was things in Soul Society when you left?"
"Um... hectic and worried I guess. I mean pretty much everyone is shocked over what happened with Aizen, y'know? And now they have to choose three new captains too... and most things are so confusing that only a few people know how to handle it all. It's nice to be away from the rookie shinigamis running around like headless chickens, though, I'll tell you that."
"That I can totally understand... How was Rukia?"
"Like she always is. She isn't really one for showing emotions if she doesn't want to, and when I left she was mostly trying to make herself useful, plus she was keeping captain Kuchiki company, 'cuz captain Unohana won't let him out of bed yet, though he says that he is fine. I think he really is fine, but that Unohana just wants to mess with him, she wants to show him who has the power."
"Heh, that seems like her. She gets kind of control-freaky when it comes to her turf, huh?"
They fell quiet, both deep in their own thoughts. Suddenly they both gave a start at the massive, foul-feeling force that bombarded their senses.
"What the fuck was that?!" Ichigo exclaimed, at the same time as the "substitute-shinigami"-badge started to glow.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but it felt like a Hollow," Renji said back sarcastically.
"I know that, teme, it was a rhetorical question!"
"I know it was a rhetorical question, dumbass, I'm not stupid!"
Ichigo didn't bother to give an answer to that since he was climbing out of his body to go into "shinigami-mode".
"Hurry up, Renji. Get out of your gigai, we have to find this one before someone gets hurt!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm trying can't you see?"
Ichigo could see, and it was actually quite an amusing sight.
When Renji had finally gotten out of his gigai (after much wriggles and other trouble) they jumped out of Ichigos open window and ran in the direction of the Hollow.
AN: The first chapter of Strawberries aren't supposed to frown (it's such a long title that I've shortened it to "SAStF"). It could be the second chapter, it really depends on how you look at it.
Explanations, an ordinary afternoon, and thoughts.
When Ichigo came back to class after his encounter with Renji, everybody stared at him. The class wanted to know who the hippie-guy was and how he knew Kurosaki-kun. Well, everyone besides Inue, Ishida and Sado, because they already knew all the class wanted to know.
Lunch was something akin to the Spanish Inquisition for Ichigo. Everyone talked to him, tried to get him to speak about the stranger. This caused Ichigo to frown even more than usual, as he tried to ignore them all, but blocking out all those voices weren't easy. Sado came to the rescue as he silently and forcefully dragged Ichigo out of the classroom, backed up by Ishida and Inue, who were fending off those who tried to follow them. They headed to the roof, their usual lunch-space.
Well up there another kind of inquisition followed. A bright and bubbly one. Led, of course, by Inue Orihime, the queen of bright and bubbly. As Inue's inborn curiosity took her over, she obviously did not see the look on Ichigos face. If you had, you would have thought of the proverb "curiosity killed the cat". If the look on Ichigos face was anything to go by, death was soon to happen. His frown had deepened even more. Sado, though, had apparently seen the look on his face, and calmed Inue down by laying one of his hands on Orihimes shoulder.
"What did he want?"
You could always count on Sado to be as short-worded as possible.
"He was bored."
"He was bored?" Ishida sounded like he couldn't believe it. "But what did he want?"
"Well, mostly I think he wanted to annoy me, but he said that he is Rukia's replacement, claiming that the four of us attract too many powerful Hollows for me to handle by myself," Ichigo said. "So they sent Renji to help me out."
"But... why did he come to our school?"
"He was bored. He got his gigai from Urahara-san, got bored and went to find me," Ichigo answered Ishidas question.
"And because I don't want him to come and drag me out of class more than the coming Hollows will, we had to find something for him to do. So he is coming to school with us, starting tomorrow."
The next day, Ichigo woke up with a slight nervous feeling in his stomach. That was probably 'cause he figured that Renji would embarrass him when he got to school.
Well in the classroom he found that Renji was already there, calmly sitting in his seat, the previously empty one next to Ichigo.
As more people came into the room, most not recognizing the guy from the day before, but some glancing curiously at him, not knowing what to make of him, since he now wore their school uniform. When Ishida, Orihime and Sado came in, they didn't know how to behave, but Renji calmly solved that with a "Long time, no see". That way their classmates would assume that he was just some transfer they had met during the summer.
Ichigo spent his day in school watching. Watching Renji, of course. It was actually really entertaining to see Renji start to squirm halfway through their second class.
When the school day was over, the gang trooped out of the room together.
'Phew, finally the torture is over,' though Renji.
"Well, I don't know how you stand doing this day in and day out. I would've killed myself if I were you," Renji stated to the group on their way off the school grounds.
"Then you're lucky not to be us, because a dead Abarai-kun would be a bad Abarai-kun," Inue said. "And we don't want a bad Abarai-kun."
"We still up for that video tonight?" Ichigo asked. They had figured that they had to celebrate Renjis arrival in some way (at least, Inue had), so they had decided to watch a movie. They had all agreed that it would be best to watch it at Inues apartment, as Ishida didn't have a VCR, Ichigos father would be unbearable, Sado claimed that he didn't have space enough for the four of them and Renji figured that Urahara wouldn't appreciate it if he dragged them to his place.
"Sure."
"Un."
"Hai!"
Sado just nodded, knowing that those he now considered real friends, didn't expect him to talk all the time, just the way he liked it.
Ichigos frown had ceased during school, and he had simply looked blank, and sometimes moderately interested. This was an improvement, at least for Inue, who did not like Ichigos frown. But the minute he separated from the others in his group of friends, his frown came back full force. He just had so many things on his mind these days... There was a pressure in the back of his mind, that something in his life wasn't right, that something was missing. That feeling made him frown the most, but it went away when he hung out with Renji, Inue, Ishida and Sado. Mostly any way.
Later that afternoon, he was surprised by a, once again, yelling Renji. This time he was outside his house.
'Is his yelling ever going to stop?' thought Ichigo to himself.
"Hey, dumbass, are you ever going to stop with the fucking yelling?" Ichigo screamed, not even bothering to move from his desk, knowing that his scream would have been audible outside the house.
"Yeah," he soon heard Renji scream back. "As soon as you come out and show me the way to Inues place!"
This time, Ichigo even bothered to go and sit on his bed and lean out the window, so that he wouldn't have to shout.
"It's not time to go yet, baka. Why don't you come in and wait with me? Heck, you could eat here if you want. I'm sure my sisters won't mind."
This made Renji feel... welcomed. Even though it was Kurosaki that invited him to dinner, he'd rather eat with his "kind-of"-friend rather than eat with Urahara-san and be called "free-loader-dono" again.
"Um... sure, if it's alright with your family."
"Okay, I'll come and open the door, just wait there."
Renji was still there when Ichigo came and opened the door. As he let Renji in and started to walk back to his room, he shouted in the direction of the kitchen;
"Oi, a friend of mine is staying for dinner, that alright?"
"Hai!" came his sisters voices back in union.
'Hn, cute,' thought Renji. He had never had siblings, unless you counted Rukia, of course, who was as close as a sister to him.
"C'mon Renji, this way."
"Hai."
Just as Renji stepped into Ichigos room, he stopped and took a look around. 'So this is how he lives,' he thought.
"Like it?"
"Yeah."
And Renji actually really did like it. Not that he knew Ichigo very well (he secretly wanted to get to know him better) but what little he knew about him seemed to fit, here in this room.
"So..." Ichigo sat down at his desk as Renji sat on the edge of Ichigos bed.
There was an uncomfortable silence that stretched over several minutes before Ichigo asked;
"How was things in Soul Society when you left?"
"Um... hectic and worried I guess. I mean pretty much everyone is shocked over what happened with Aizen, y'know? And now they have to choose three new captains too... and most things are so confusing that only a few people know how to handle it all. It's nice to be away from the rookie shinigamis running around like headless chickens, though, I'll tell you that."
"That I can totally understand... How was Rukia?"
"Like she always is. She isn't really one for showing emotions if she doesn't want to, and when I left she was mostly trying to make herself useful, plus she was keeping captain Kuchiki company, 'cuz captain Unohana won't let him out of bed yet, though he says that he is fine. I think he really is fine, but that Unohana just wants to mess with him, she wants to show him who has the power."
"Heh, that seems like her. She gets kind of control-freaky when it comes to her turf, huh?"
They fell quiet, both deep in their own thoughts. Suddenly they both gave a start at the massive, foul-feeling force that bombarded their senses.
"What the fuck was that?!" Ichigo exclaimed, at the same time as the "substitute-shinigami"-badge started to glow.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but it felt like a Hollow," Renji said back sarcastically.
"I know that, teme, it was a rhetorical question!"
"I know it was a rhetorical question, dumbass, I'm not stupid!"
Ichigo didn't bother to give an answer to that since he was climbing out of his body to go into "shinigami-mode".
"Hurry up, Renji. Get out of your gigai, we have to find this one before someone gets hurt!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm trying can't you see?"
Ichigo could see, and it was actually quite an amusing sight.
When Renji had finally gotten out of his gigai (after much wriggles and other trouble) they jumped out of Ichigos open window and ran in the direction of the Hollow.
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