Ladies and Gentlemen

Ladies and Gentlemen 5

**BolognaAnChi, thank you for reviewing...and yes, this pair is quite lovable. Also, thank-you to those who have voted! I am new here so it took me a bit to figure out what that was all about. I like it!

Infatuation for a Stranger

Since fate was kind enough to let me faint at my train stop, the hospital I was taken to is the one where my clerkship will be held. Luckily, this means that we are not to far from the dorm and there are plenty of decent places to eat. I decided on the restaurant where Chad works. He won't be there, but the food really is something amazing. I told Shiro about the food they serve to make sure he didn't have any objections, but he said that wherever I chose was fine and that he could eat just about anything.

A few minutes after being seated the waitress jotted down our order and we found that, like our looks, our tastes were very similar as well. The only thing I got on my burger that he didn't was mayonnaise. After she went back to place our order, Shiro spoke up, "So Ichi, tell me about yourself."

The conversation drifted back and forth touching on most of the basic subjects. I learned that he has an apartment just on the other side of town, just graduated from business school, and is saving and planning for his own business.

Somewhere, in the midst of conversation, I felt his foot briefly brush against mine. It seemed accidental and only lasted for a second, but I felt my face heat up none the less. It wasn't till the third or fourth time that I realized it wasn't accidental. I had tried my best to ignore the foot that kept briefly touching mine, but when I jumped a little that last time, the smirk on his face and lack of comment gave it away. Of course my savior would be a relentless tease, fate seems to love toying with me.


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Sitting across from Ichigo in the booth, I open up a menu and look appreciatively over my options. I really hope this place has decent burgers. When the woman came to take our order, I got a good laugh that we ordered our burgers almost the exact same way, same side and all. Taking advantage of the opportunity to get to know him a little I started conversation. "So Ichi, tell me about yourself."

The rest of lunch was pretty much spent passing questions back and forth. So the boy was in med school, has a family in Kurakara, and hopes to be a surgeon in the future. Somewhere in the conversation, I went to stretch my leg a little and accidentally bumped into Ichigo's foot. The delicious blush that followed was a reaction I couldn't seem to get enough of. Every time I would almost lose sight of the red tint, I would run my foot past his again. The red returned every time without fail. He jumped when I lightly brushed his ankle, and I couldn't keep the smirk off my face. Looks like he finally caught on.

"Would you cut it out?" I notice he is trying to keep his voice down.

Feigning ignorance I reply, "cut what out Ichi?" The smirk still ever present on my face, I brush his ankle again.

"Ah, that! Cut that out! Look I don't know what you-" He is interrupted by the reappearance of our waitress who asks us if we need anything else. I respond while simultaneously trying to initiate a game of footsie with Ichigo, "Do you guys carry any desserts that come with strawberries?"

I receive a harsh kick for that one and my knee jerks up and bangs the underside of the table, shit that hurt. The waitress looks at our table confusedly and Ichigo distracts her by asking for the check, all the while laughing at what I'm sure is the pained look on my face. When she leaves, I prop foot up on my chair and cradle my abused knee and shin, while sending Ichigo a look that I hope screams 'kicked puppy.'

"Don't pout at me, you started it." He responds still laughing a little, and despite the pain, I could really see myself getting used to that sound. Huh, getting used to... The idea that I finally find myself wanting something more than a good lay, is not as un-welcomed as I used to think it would be.

I have always feared the thought tying myself down in a relationship. With things like having to report in constantly, always having to answer to someone, and not being able to take pleasure from wherever I want it, I have always been guarded against actual relationships. However, as I sit here looking at this beautiful orange headed stranger, all of my worries seem meaningless. For the first time, I have the inexplicable urge to completely lose myself in someone, and the only thing that scares me is the fact that I am not scared at all.


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When Shiro's knee hit the table so hard it caused our waitress to jump, I thought that I'd die from laughter. Somehow, I managed communicate that we were ready for the check, to which she happily made her escape. Looking across the table at the offending party, I received a look that could only be classified as 'to pitiful to be real.'

"Don't pout at me, you started it." He looks thoughtful for a minute and I find myself wondering what had distracted him. Suddenly, he shoots me a breathtaking sincere smile, "Yer right, I suppose I deserved it fer teasin' ya like that. Come on Ichi, you look pretty tired, let's get ya home." The sincerity in his voice and those golden eyes locked with mine, took any response I might have had and shattered it into millions of little pieces. So I end up responding with a rather lame "ok" and we make our way out the door.

Despite my complaints and assurances that I was fine, Shiro ended up carrying all of my bags back to the dorm room. He set them down inside the door and turned to me. "Alrigh' Ichi, now that I know your home safe, I leave so you can get some rest." Stupid as this sounds, I actually find myself not wanting him to leave. How the hell could I have gotten attached to a stranger so damn quickly?

"Hang on a sec, I need to give you my number for next time, remember?" He smiles and leans against the wall while I jot my cell number down on the back of an old receipt.

"Thanks, Ichi. I'll call ya tomorrow ta see how yer doin' and we can schedule a day."

"Sure, thanks again for your help today. I'll talk to you tomorrow." I almost wince, hoping that didn't sound as needy to him as it did to me. That trademark smirk reappears and he leans forward and gives me a gentle kiss on the forehead, "sure will Ichi." With that he turns and walks out the door, leaving me alone in my room. Still shocked, I raise my hand to the spot his lips touched, and through the daze try to figure out exactly how hard I've fallen. Well, until my phone chose that exact moment to interrupt.

Stupidly, I find myself hoping it is Shiro, only to answer and get disappointed by a distinctly different voice. "Hey Ichi, do ya miss me yet?" Dammit, of all the people, why does Grimmjow have to be the one on the other line? "No Grimmjow, I am doing quite fine without you. What's up?"

"Nothin' much, just on lunch and wanted to make sure ya made it home ok." Haha. I would have laughed out loud if it wouldn't have raised his suspicion. Lunch huh? Come to think of it, I really don't have any idea where Grimmjow is working now. Oh well, not really curious enough to ask I simply answer the unofficial inquiry. "Yep, I made it home in one piece, but am still pretty tired so I think I'm gonna crash for a while. Talk to ya later Grimmjow."

"Night sleeping beauty." He laughs as the call ends. Bastard.

Falling face first onto my bed, my mind runs through thoughts of Shiro and unfortunately, Grimmjow. Now that I think about it, there are certain similarities between them. I really can't afford another situation like the one with Grimmjow. My thoughts become slower as sleep tugs at me. The last thing that crosses my mind is, could I really want to escape Shiro? Would he even let me?