The Outfit

Tuesday

A/N:  I JUST REALIZED AFTER ALL THIS TIME THAT HALF OR MORE OF THIS CHAPTER WAS MISSING!!  AS IN THE IMPORTANT STUFF AT NIGHT!!  My sincerest apologies.  It is fixed now!

TUESDAY

"Oi, Ichigo!" says an eager-as-ever Keigo. "I couldn't help but notice you and Kuchiki eyeballing each other all day today...something going on you wanna tell us about?"

Ichigo blushes, but does not answer. The crowd of male friends around him all get excited by that non-answer answer, and Keigo leans in close to Ichigo's face. "Ooooh, I see! So how far have you gotten with her then? Have you done it yet?" BLAM! One grinning face in the dirt.

"So...was that a yes or a no?" BLAM! Mizuiro's turn to face-plant on a childish grin.

"Ya know what?" says Ichigo, standing up with his bento and dusting the grass off his butt, "Why the hell am I wasting my time having my lunch over here with you jerks anyway? I have a girlfriend now! See ya!" With that, he heads towards the fence nearby where Rukia and her friends are sitting, having their own lunches.

Meanwhile, Rukia's friends are asking her about Ichigo. It seems the whole school noticed the way two were behaving toward each other today. She just smiles through a crimson face in response, earning giggles and congratulations from her companions—save one. Orihime just looks into her lap, her hands folded there, her head down.

"Ichigo!" beams Rukia when he shows up there. Orihime looks up to see Ichigo holding his hand out to Rukia, smiling, a happy sparkle in his eyes. "Rukia, what say you and I have our lunch over there?" Ichigo says, gesturing with a nod toward the side of the building a few meters away from the general population of the school. Rukia nods in agreement, taking his hand to stand and walking off with him, bento in tow. It's more than Orihime can take. She runs into the building to hide and cry in the ladies' room, Tatsuki following quickly behind.

Ichigo and Rukia enjoy sharing their lunch hour together, just talking and eating with one another. However, a persistent Keigo and all his followers won't leave them alone. They keep hollering non-of-your-business questions at them, as well as suggestive comments. Ichigo is getting annoyed, as is Rukia. Keigo finally shouts out, "Hey, why don't you kiss her?" Earning him a "don't go there or I'll kill you til you die from it" look. This just spurs the loudmouth on, knowing he had touched a sensitive spot. With that knowledge, he grins evilly, and keeps harping on it, getting his other friends—and even some of the girls, too—to start chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

By this point, the entire schoolyard is staring at Ichigo and Rukia, all grinning, enjoying the taunts from Keigo and company, waiting to see what an angry Ichigo will ultimately do about it. What he ends up doing surprises everyone. Especially Rukia.

"All right!" He yells at the crowd of chanters, standing up. "You wanna see a kiss? Fine, I'll show you a freakin' kiss!" With that, he grabs Rukia's wrist, pulling her to stand. He walks a few feet forward to where everyone on the school grounds can see them both well. Then he pulls Rukia into his arms, dips her backwards, and lays a long, passionate kiss onto her lips. She beats his back with her fists for it, kissing her in public like that, but he doesn't move his mouth from hers. The schoolyard falls so deathly quiet even the crickets refuse to chirp. Finally, Ichigo stands the two of them up straight again and lets Rukia go. She hauls off and punches him, her face sports-car red from her chin to her ears, then stomps off into the building--angry from the scene he just made, embarrassing her to no end. Ichigo just rubs his now-sore jaw with a smile, the whole of the school now cheering loudly as Rukia's back disappears into the high school.