Pride (IchiRuki Fanfiction) 💗

Part 12

"Guys, I want to introduce someone to you. Some of you might already know about him, some of you may have even came across him before, this is Kaien Shiba. As in older brother of Ganju and Kukaku. As in Liutenant of 13th Division. Kaien, these are Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Ishida. They're my best friends in the human world." Rukia introduced her friend to them.
"Hi, it's very nice to meet all of you. I've heard quite a lot about you guys, so don't blame me I feel like I've known you for years. Blame Rukia." Kaien laughed and patted Rukia's head. Rukia blushed, which Ichigo noticed, got annoyed and started frowning. He already didn't like Kaien. What Ichigo didn't know was that she blushed only because this happened in front of Ichigo's eyes, that another man touched her while in presence of Ichigo.
"Oh, don't worry about that Kaien, it's nice to meet you too." Orihime said and smiled.
"Pleased to meet you." Ishida and Chad said at the same time.
Ichigo didn't even bother to show any interest in Kaien.
"You must be Ichigo. I've heard a lot of good stuff about you. Rukia described you as the bravest human being she had ever met. She told me all about your fights. According to her words, you put up some good fight. Nice to meet you." Kaien said and smiled at Ichigo.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too Kaien. I am sure you being here means a lot to Rukia since she wasn't capable of stopping talking about you last few days." Ichigo said and looked at Rukia. Rukia was looking his way, forming an angry facial expression. She knew that he was doing this on purpose.
"Okay then. We should get going. Kaien, since you told me you've never been to pools before I thought that it would be a nice thing to go to the human pool today, so I got us tickets. We deserve some break here, after all." Rukia said and smiled. Everyone liked this idea, so they all headed to pools. Since she was the part of the Kuchiki noble family, Rukia always had free access to the pools in Soul Society. But only members of noble families could use them, which meant that Kaien and the rest of them weren't allowed to use them.
"You are so considerate, Rukia. I am proud to see you all grown up." Kaien praised her.
"Well I was taught by the best, wasn't I?" She said and playfully winked at him.
"You sure were." He said and put his arm around her shoulders. When Ichigo saw this, he started to rage.
This moron...What gives him the right to put his hands around her?!
He started to get really angry, but he decided to ignore it and hide it for the best. He still remained walking behind them, watching every Kaien's move closely. In one moment of Rukia's and Kaien's conversation, Kaien completely leaned on to her and then hugged her.
WHAT?!? This guy...
I can't believe this. Rukia won't even do anything to stop him from doing this...She seems like she doesn't mind him doing this at all...Well, if that's how it's gonna be, fine. Game on, Rukia.
He thought to himself.
When they arrived to the pools, everyone immediately jumped inside of the water. Water felt surprisingly warm and nice. Everybody was laughing and having a good time. Rukia and Kaien were inseparable and Ichigo was at his limit. His jealousy was boiling inside of him. He was determined to make Rukia suffer at all rates. He wanted to make her feel just like he felt when he saw her flirting with another man. And what's the best way to make a girl suffer? Go for her best friend. Orihime. Ichigo went up to Orihime and chatted her up. He made sure they were in the right place where they could be seen by Kaien and Rukia. After some time, he could feel Rukia's eyes on him, so he did this...
"Orihime...there is something I wanted to discuss with you, but it's a private matter. So could we maybe isolate ourselves a bit so that we can openly talk about this? I wouldn't want anyone else to hear about this." He asked her and watched her eyes light up as he mentioned the two of them being completely alone, away from the others.
"Yeah sure. If you don't mind, we can talk over there by that beautiful waterfall. Others are all on the other side of the pool, so we won't have to worry about being heard. I just don't feel like leaving water yet." She said and smiled.
"Yeah, I don't feel like getting out of the water either. I love indoors pools and the water feels great." Ichigo agreed with her.
"Yeah, it certainly does. So...What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked him and a little smile formed on her lips.
Damn it. I'm such a bad person for using Orihime in order to make Rukia jealous. But there is no other way. I have to stay focused on my goal.
"Orihime...We have known each other for years...You were always there by my side and you never judged any of my actions. You are one of my most loyal friends ever. And although I am so grateful to have your friendship, lately, I..." Ichigo said while blushing.
Damn. I am really going through with this. I am confessing to Orihime. But...what if she rejects me?
"You what? Don't be afraid to talk to me Ichigo, you know you can always tell me everything." She said and smiled at him.
No way. She doesn't even suspect a thing. She's not even aware that I am about to confess to her. What a waste... I am so gonna get rejected. Here comes my rejection.
"I am not sure how to say it out loud..." He started.
"Say what?" She asked him, clearly confused.
Screw it.
He thought and then he just went for it. He kissed her passionately. Her lips were so soft that Ichigo felt like they were melting his lips away. Ichigo could tell that she was still in shock because she wasn't moving her lips at all so he pulled away.
Oh no. I freaked her out.
He got scared and then Orihime looked up to meet his gaze. The look that she gave him. Her eyes were filled with so many different emotions at the same time. She was blushing like crazy. He immediately started to regret his decision.
"Orihime... I am so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, I shouldn't have done that. I didn't know how to put it in the words, so I..."
"It's fine." She cut him off while he was apologizing.
"Does that mean you forgive me?" He asked her and put his hand on her still red cheek.
"Yes. I do forgive you." She said and smiled at him.
Oh God. She so rejected me. I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have dragged her into all of this. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this.
"Ichigo...I know you did that only because you are trying to make Rukia jealous." She said.
"What?" Ichigo was completely blown off by her sentence. He was speechless.
"Please don't treat me this way. I might be clueless, but I am not THAT clueless. You are jealous of that man Kaien, right?" She asked him.
"How did you know?" Ichigo gave in and admitted his actions.
"Well, it was pretty obvious from the beginning. You were in the bad mood ever since he arrived, you responded sarcastically to almost everything he asked you and I saw how your face expressions changed while you were walking behind them when they were getting pretty...close." She said.
Wow. She is quite perceptive. Ichigo thought to himself. He was blown off by her analyzing skills.
"Was I...that obvious?" He asked while looking away. He felt pretty embarrassed about the whole situation.
"To me, yes. It was transparent. But to them, I don't think so. I don't think they noticed it." She said.
"What made you notice it?" He asked her.
"You were constantly staring at them while you were talking to me. I couldn't have not noticed." She said.
"Um...I am so sorry Orihime. I should have never dragged you into my own problems. I made a big mistake." He said.
"It's okay to feel jealous sometimes. It shows that you really care about someone." She said.
"Yeah, but still...I guess I took it way too far with you." He said.
"I don't mind...helping you." She said.
"What?" He was surprised by her words. Did he hear her correctly?
"Well, if it's you, I wouldn't mind helping you make her jealous. I am sure Rukia likes you but she tries to hide it. We girls tend to do that sometimes. My honest opinion." She says and Ichigo looks at her surprised.
"Really? You'd do that? Oh my God, you are a life saver, Orihime! Thank you. Thank you so much. But please, keep this between us only." He said.
"Don't worry, Ichigo. Your secret is safe in my hands. I promise." She said and smiled.
"Okay then. Let's get on to it then, shall we?" He said.
"Yeah!" She said.