Pride (IchiRuki Fanfiction) 💗

Part 14

"Your eyes are red. You were crying, weren't you?" Ichigo caught Rukia's hand while she was trying to pass by him as she was making her way back to the pools from toilet.
"No I wasn't. Let go of my hand." She lied.
"Not until you tell me why." Ichigo decided to be persistent and find out if she was upset because of him and Orihime.
"I already told you, I wasn't crying. Leave me alone already." She said while continuing to look down.
"Is that why you can't even look me in the eyes when I am talking to you?" He asked and this time she looked up. Her eyes were all red. She was definitely crying.
"I knew you were crying. What happened?" He asked her, worried that him and Orihime might have gone a bit too far with their act.
"Stop being silly Ichigo. Nothing happened. I wasn't crying. It's just chlorine from the pool. I was diving and I had my eyes opened underwater." She lied once again and this time, she felt proud for making a valid excuse.
"I did not see you diving at all. Another lie." He stated.
"Of course you didn't see me diving. You were occupied, after all." She said it in the most natural way, with her playful, confident tone of voice.
"What do you mean? Occupied by what?" He asked her, confused. Was she actually pointing that he was occupied by Orihime?
"I'd rather you used whom instead of what. You know very well what I am talking about. You were busy enjoying yourself. Remember that next time you accuse me of being a liar." She smiled and passed by him, leaving him confused.
Wait...So, she saw?!
Ichigo smiled and immediately felt proud of himself. Rukia saw him making out with another girl. Not just any girl. Orihime. This made him feel manly.
Now she knows that I am desired by other women. That I am valuable. She always treats me like trash.
Now that he remembered, he knew that she lied about diving. Her hair wasn't wet at all. And besides, he hasn't taken his eyes off of her since they came here. He knows for a fact that she didn't dive. She lied again. She must have cried because she was upset.
I am an idiot for making her cry. But I am glad that my plan worked. I made her jealous. She cares about me after all!
Ichigo was incredibly happy. After showering, he went back to the benches were everybody was sitting. He couldn't wait to get back to his house with Rukia and to have a heart-to-heart talk with her about everything. But when he came back to those benches, he found the girl that he loved seated next to another man. Kaien. They were chatting about something and his hand was completely around her waist this time.
This guy...
Ichigo started to rage at the mere sight of the girl he was interested in, being touched by another guy. He wanted to go out there and ruin him. But he couldn't.
How does he dare to touch her like that?! She's mine!
He came there slowly after calming himself down several times. He's gonna play it cool. He's not gonna make any kind of scene. At least not here, at this place, in front of these people. He has got this.
"Well Rukia, that idea that you got was amazing! I think that all of us had lots of fun today. Great thinking." Kaien complimented her.
"It's no big deal, really. I am just grateful that you're here." Rukia said while giving Kaien the biggest, brightest smile ever. Ichigo felt as if someone stung his ego and heart when he heard those words.
I am just grateful that you're here.
No matter how much he tried to ignore it, that feeling was still there. Feeling of uneasiness.
Will everything ever go back to the way it was?
When there were no tensions, no hard feelings. He didn't even care about her, she annoyed him all the time. Her existence didn't make a lot of difference to Ichigo. Now, it's impossible for him to imagine even one day without that short little brat.
How did everything get so messed up...
He asked himself while looking at Rukia and Kaien. He was incredibly jealous.
"Well, I am gonna go now. I need to go back to Urahara's place, we're staying there at the moment. Guys, I've had a lot of fun with you today. I'm glad I got to meet all of you. It'd be amazing if we could hang out like this again sometime." Kaien suggested and smiled.
"I couldn't agree more." Ishida said and smiled.
"Yeah, it was amazing today. We should do this more often." Chad agreed too.
"We will. Once all of our duties are finished and we get our well deserved break." Rukia said and smiled.
"Well, I am gonna go now. See you later guys." Kaien said and departed.
"Bye." Everybody else replied and parted their ways except for Rukia and Ichigo, who were both going in the same direction, to the same house.
What does night have in plan for these two?