Pride (IchiRuki Fanfiction) 💗

Part 3

At 7:40 in the evening, Ichigo and Rukia decided to set off for the hangout at Orihime's. Rukia wore a casual blue top while Ichigo decided to go for his usual home outfit which consisted of a white t-shirt and long green trousers. Rukia was quite cheerful and excited, while Ichigo was more of a "it's just a hangout, it's no big deal" kind of a guy. They walked together by the river. The sun was setting, leaving the sky all orangey. The atmosphere was pretty relaxing.
"Hey, Ichigo..?" She asked him, in a curious tone of voice.
"Yes?" He answered.
"Have you always been friends with them?" She asked him.
"You mean Chad, Ishida and Orihime? No, not really, to be honest. We were just classmates. I didn't really know them back then at the time."
He answered honestly.
"Why is that?" She continued to dig deeper.
"I don't know, really...Even if you ask me... I wasn't really interested in having any friends at that time. I was just doing my own thing. I didn't really care about expanding my friendships and getting to know other people. I was...kind of satisfied with the way my life was. I didn't really need anyone to make me happy." He said.
"I really like all of them. People here are really kind and nice to one another. When I first came here, they accepted me for who I was and they made me feel happy. I like this world. It's different than my home. People in Soul Society can be mean and selfish sometimes. Everybody just cares for themselves. There are no real friendships like here." She admitted.
"Don't be naive, Rukia. There are people here like that too. They are everywhere. You just need to recognize them and watch out for them. Sometimes it's better to avoid making any friends because most of them leave eventually. They betray you and turn against you. In the beginning, they act like angels and tell you all this nice stuff making you believe in true friendships, but then they turn against you and leave you. That's why I didn't bother making any friends. I don't need them. I am happy on my own." He said.
"That's a stupid way of thinking, Ichigo." She said.
"What did you just say?" He raised the tone of his voice, annoyed that she always finds a way to find anything he says ridiculous and pointless.
"I said that I disagree with your statement. There are many bad people out there in the world, but also, you shouldn't forget that there are the good ones as well. Not all of them are bad. I think that everyone deserves a chance. You see, you met your friends now. Orihime, Chad and Ishida are all really kind. They are fond of you as well. You know why is that? That's because you took a risk and gave them a chance. And in the end, they didn't disappoint you. Now, you are off to see them, hang out with them and have fun. Isn't that nice?" She asked him.
"It is, but they are exceptions. The rest of the people in my class can be pretty gross sometimes. " He continued to go for his opinion.
"You can't really know that unless you give them a chance, right? Look, what I am trying to say is that you should stop being so stubborn all the time and let some people get to know you. You are an amazing guy Ichigo, despite all your flaws. I am sure you would have many friends if you just let more people in. I am glad you let me in, because I got to know you and I like you. See? Life is all about positive stuff. Stop being such a control freak and let everything flow its own way once in a while, okay?" She finished.
"You are right. I will. We are here, this is Orihime's house." He said and they both walked over to the house. After a knock, cheerful Orihime answered the door. She welcomed both of them in, happy to have her friends over for the first time in her life. Others were already there, chatting and drinking coffee.
"Hey there guys." Rukia smiled at all of them and sat down on the nearest sofa.
"I am really glad you came. I was getting really lonely lately. Usually, Tatsuki would come over to hang out at my place but since she has a karate tournament, I won't be seeing her in few days."
"God, is she still doing karate? I gave up on it a long time ago. She seems to be really passionate about it." Ichigo said and smiled at Orihime. Orihime's heart trembled instantly.
"Yeah, Tatsuki really loves karate. She is also very good at it too! I am just scared that one day she will face an opponent way stronger than her and get injured." Orihime said and looked away.
"I see why you're worried, but Tatsuki is pretty good at defending herself. It was her decision to make and she decided that she will be Japan's number one karate girl player."  Ichigo said.
"As her friend, the most important thing for you to do is to support her. Support is the most important thing in friendships. Also, you have to believe in her too. She's talented, she can't be taken down that easily, can she?" Ishida said.
"Yeah, true. Also, if she does get injured, you can always use your powers to heal her. There's nothing your healing ability can't fix. It's a natural gift Orihime. You should be very proud of yourself."  Rukia said and smiled.
"Thanks Rukia. You guys are right. Anybody want some juice? "   Orihime offered.
"No, we are good." Everybody answered at the same time.
"I have this amazing game I bought recently. Is anybody interested in playing it?" Orihime asked.
"I'm in." Said Ichigo.
"Me too." Rukia and Ishida said.
"Great. So this is how we play it, here are the instructions. So each one of us rolls the dice and gets to the certain point on this map, in order. When you get to a place, you pull out the card related to it from here and you read your dare. If you do it, you move four places forwards. If not, you go four places backwards. So the main point is to get first to this place, marked with END. Dare to play?"
She asked and smiled competitively.
"Yeah!" Everybody yelled at the same time.
They finally started to play. The game gave out many different dares, all of them crazy in some sort of way. Ishida needed to taste the most disgusting thing from the fridge that the person sitting next to him made for him, Orihime needed to call a random number and pretend that she's selling sex toys, Ichigo needed to drink two beers and Rukia needed to hit Ishida as hard as she can. Everybody enjoyed the game. It was Ichigo's turn. He rolled the dice and got number three. He moved his figurine three places forwards and pulled out his challenge in order to move four more places. His dare was the biggest one ever. He needed to kiss the person sitting on his right side. The person sitting next to Ichigo on the right side was Rukia. He needed to kiss Rukia. He blushed as he read out his card in his mind. There was no way he was doing this one.
"What does it say Ichigo? Come on, tell us!" Ishida insisted and they all started to force him to tell them. Ichigo gave up and put his dare down on the table. Everybody read it out and they laughed as they realized that Rukia is the one he is supposed to kiss. Rukia, on the other hand, blushed and awkwardly looked away. Ichigo was only four places away from the finishing point, from the END. If he wanted to refuse to do his dare, then Ishida, who was right behind him would probably win. He needed to kiss Rukia in order to win.
"Oh come on Ichigo! Don't be such a coward, man. It only takes you to kiss her in order to win. Just do it already." Ishida motivated him to do it. Orihime and Rukia didn't say anything. Rukia was incredibly embarrased while Orihime didn't know how to react. Was her biggest crush just gonna kiss another girl in front of her, in her own house? That would be really awkward. Ichigo was shocked and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't wait until his next turn because everybody was near the end, so anyone could win easily. Besides, Rukia was just a friend so it wouldn't mean anything. It wouldn't mean anything, right? It's just a dare anyway. Soon, it will all be forgotten. He tried to convince himself to lean in and take what's his to take. The victory. Lying right there on Rukia's pretty pink lips. His heart started to pound really hard as he made his decision. Rukia's face was entirely red, giving away her embarrassment. Ichigo was really nervous as well. Her violet eyes stared at him as he leaned in, closer to her. He moved his head to one side, closed his eyes and their lips met. He started to kiss her slowly. His lips were  moving on hers. He noticed that Rukia's lips were really soft. There was this strange sensation building up inside of him, just from feeling her tiny little lips on him. She was sweet. He didn't feel like pulling away and breaking the kiss. But the others were going to suspect something if he doesn't pull away immediately. So he did. His eyes opened only to find Rukia's violet staring at him deeply. It was really strange. He tried to cover the blush in his cheeks by turning away and looking elsewhere. She felt he was nervous and embarased by it too. But she didn't dare to say anything. Orihime just stared blankly at Ichigo's face, carefully observing his reactions.
"It's getting pretty late, so I am gonna head home now." Said Ishida.
"We should go too, Ichigo. It's getting late." Said Rukia.
"Okay. Thanks for everything Orihime. It was a nice evening."  Said Ichigo awkwardly.
Orihime just stared at him for a few seconds before her lips could form a fake smile.
"Oh no worries guys. Thanks for coming over. It was really fun. We should do it again sometime." She said.
"Yeah definitely. We'll see you tomorrow at school then. Bye." They said and headed off home. After a five-minute walk, Ishida told Ichigo and Rukia that his house was in a different direction so they said their goodbyes. There was just the two of them now. Left all alone in the dark. How awkward can it get for these two?