Not Meant For Me

AN: I apologize for this chapter being so late. I've been bust in real life as well as had a bit of a writer's block. But, I've got ideas to get out now. I'll try to get it all out as fast as I can. I'll try to have the next chapter out before Christmas, since it does revolve around the holiday. Hopefully I'll get it done by the deadline. Love you all and thank you for being patient with me. ^_^

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Chapter 6: Confrontation


I never would have expected the following months to go by as smoothly as they did. When Rukia and I began to date officially, I was surprised to see that many of our peers were actually… happy for us. I had more people talk to me than I had ever happen before. I’m sure it was because of Rukia’s popularity, but, I didn’t complain.

Rukia wasn’t treated any differently, other than Kurosaki’s friends giving us hell. They bitched and moaned a good three weeks about the two of them splitting up. Very few people had any objections with the two of us being together.

By the time December came around, the three months we’d had together suddenly felt like we’d been together for years. I’d had more party invites than I could ever recall having, even when I was younger. Rukia and I attended a few of the parties. For some odd reason, I actually felt like I belonged. I don’t know if people treated me differently because I was Rukia’s boyfriend or what. It just felt so strange.

“What are you thinking about, Uryuu?”

The question brought me from my thoughts as I looked up from my spot under the tree I spent many afternoons on campus reading. I smiled, seeing Rukia standing there. Her hands were in the pockets of her jackets, her jacket zipped halfway up. The light breeze made her skirt flutter ever so slightly.

I shifted some, sitting up a bit more, moving my legs apart just a little bit. She moved closer to me then. She dropped to her knees before moving to sit between my legs, her back to my chest. I smiled, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close to me.

“Just thinking about how happy I am,” I answered her question at last.

“Oh?” I could hear the curiousness in her voice.

“Indeed.” I smiled a moment, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. “Have you noticed how people have been treating me lately?” I asked then. She nodded.

“Yes, I have noticed. I’m actually surprised with how everyone has taken it… so well. It’s almost eerie. I wonder if they’re plotting something… like some kind of conspiracy.” I laughed softly.

“Wouldn’t that just be the icing on the cake?” I smiled then, shaking my head. I hugged her close then. “But somehow, that doesn’t surprise me at all. I suppose only time will tell.”

We sat there for a few moments; quiet, just to enjoy the day. It wasn’t cold, a light breeze here and there. I took hold of one of her hands, linking our fingers together. I gave her a gentle squeeze, which she returned with a smile.

“Oh, nii-sama wanted to know if you would join us for dinner tonight. I meant to ask earlier, but, I just now remembered about it.” She laughed softly then.

“Sure, I’d love to join the two of you. It’d be good to see your brother again.” We were quiet again for a few moments.

The quiet moments were soothing as the light breeze brushed past us. I rested my head on her shoulder, hugging her to me again. I felt her shift in my arms, turning her torso a little bit towards me. I lifted my hand to her cheek and she smiled at me. Leaning towards her, I tilted my head to give her a kiss.

“Well, if it isn’t the whore and the home-wrecker.”

I paused in mid attempt of a kiss, looking up. Standing before us both were Kurosaki’s friends, Keigo and Mizuiro. I sighed, rolling my eyes. The shorter, darker haired boy looked around nervously, as if he really didn’t want to be there. Of course, he only tagged along just because Keigo had dragged him along.

“What do you want, Asano?” I asked, sighing. Rukia turned, looking at the two before them. “Couldn’t do this yourself, so you had to drag Kojima along with you?” I watched the expressions on both boys; Keigo’s showing anger, Mizuiro’s showing a hint of embarrassment.

“You leave Mizuiro out of this.”

“Kinda hard to do that when he’s standing there with you. Now, I’m gonna ask you again. What do the two of you want?” Rukia shifted against me, hiding her face ever so slightly against my chest. I lifted my hand, lightly stroking her hair. “In case you haven’t noticed, Rukia and I were having a private conversation.”

Rukia moved against me again to look at the boys interrupting us. She shook her head slightly as she moved to stand. I frowned a moment, letting her go. She picked up her bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder.

“I’ll see you tonight, okay?” She asked, looking down at me with a smile. “I’ve got a few things to do before dinner, so, I had better be going.”

“Alright,” I answered, smiling again. I moved to stand as well, dusting myself off. I reached out to her, pulling her into a gentle embrace. She returned the gesture. As I leaned to kiss her, she turned her head just slightly. I kissed the outside of her mouth and pulled back, looking at her in confusion. She then pointedly looked at the two standing near by. Understanding, I nodded. “See you tonight.” I hugged her again and then proceeded to let her go.

As she walked away, I sighed, watching her a moment. Then, the anger set in as I looked to the other boys who were still standing there. Mizuiro looked to the ground, Keigo stood there with a grin on his face.

“Are you fucking happy now?” I asked, glaring at the brunette.

“Ah, no,” the other answered. “I’ll be happy when she’s back with Ichigo.”

I growled in frustration, raking my hands through my hair. So this was what it was about. Ichigo. It was always about that bastard.

“Ichi’s all torn up over losing her, you know,” Keigo started. “It kills me to see him like this. You took his heart away.” I glared at the boy then.

“Well, if you’re so worried about your ‘precious Ichi’, you fucking date him,” I ground out, clenching my teeth. “Leave me and Rukia out of this.”

“Well, I would, but you two are the problem for his grief. He’s confided in me on the things that went down and he’s feeling regret over what happened.”

“He should. Hitting a girl the way he did and all.” The look on Keigo’s face changed at the sentence I spoke. What was that? Shock? So, Ichigo didn’t tell his friend the whole story after all.

“He… hit her?” Mizuiro asked, looking up from the ground. “He didn’t tell us that.” I laughed.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you morons that. Do you really think he’d confide the fact that he slapped his ex-girlfriend not once, but twice? Really?” I sighed, shifting my bag on my shoulder. “Look, I’ve got a dinner to get prepared for. Run along back to Kurosaki and leave me and my girlfriend alone.”

I turned on my heels and stalked off in the direction of my apartment. Anger seethed through me as I walked. How dare those imbeciles come bother the two of us when we were having a peaceful moment? How dare they ruin something so nice?

I growled to myself, thoughts running through my head. I was happy for once and yet Ichigo was still finding some way or another to ruin everything. But not this time. No, I was not about to just sit there and take this. I shifted on my heels again, headed now towards a different location other than my apartment.

It was time to pay Kurosaki a little visit.

Standing outside the Kurosaki clinic, I pounded on the locked door a few moments. After waiting a minute or two, I turned to leave, figuring there wasn’t anyone home. I growled in frustration. I took a few steps before hearing the door opening behind me. I turned, seeing the ginger haired boy standing there, leaning against the door frame.

“Come to ruin my life even more?” He asked. His voice was low, rough. He sounded horrible.

“No,” I answered. “I’m here to ask you to call off your dogs.”

“Dogs?” He looked at me, lifting an eyebrow.

“Your friends, Kurosaki. Keigo and Mizuiro? I’d appreciate it if you asked them to stop harassing me and Rukia.” He flinched at her name.

“I can’t control what they do.” He sighed, pushing away from the door frame, stepping out into the sunlight. I took note of the sling that still protected his arm. It had been over a month, had he not fully healed? I shook my head slightly. It wasn’t like I cared.

“Just ask them to leave us alone. Okay?”

“I suppose…” I saw the way Ichigo looked away from me, as if he really didn’t want to be there. He looked as if he had something on his mind as well. I watched as he took his bottom lip into his mouth. He finally looked up at me again. “Is… is Rukia happy?” He asked finally.

“Of course she’s happy. Why wouldn’t she be?” I asked, frowning. Did Ichigo think I wouldn’t be able to treat Rukia right? “I haven’t seen her this happy since we were children.”

“I see…” Ichigo sighed a moment, looking away, and his head bowing some. He nodded, as if he’d had a conversation in his head. “Just as long as she’s happy, I’m happy.” He turned to reenter his home through the open clinic door.

As he went inside, he left the door open. It was as if he’d had invited me in without verbalizing the words. Glancing around I moved to follow him, shutting the door behind me. Once inside, I didn’t see the other boy until he returned down the stairs and back into the clinic area. He moved to me slowly. For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me. I noticed in his hand, he held a slender black box.

“Christmas is coming up,” Ichigo says softly, not yet looking up to meet my gaze. “I want you to give Rukia this.” He handed me the box he held. “I was going to give it to her this year, was waiting for the right time to give it to her. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to, and… it’s too late to return it anyway.” He sighed, looking up. “You don’t have to tell her it’s from me, I don’t care anymore. But… she deserves this, no matter who it’s from.”

“Ichigo…” I started. But, he just held a hand up, stopping me from saying anything else.

“Just give it to her. I know it’s not a diamond ring, but, it was going to be a place holder before I could get one and officially ask her to marry me.” I could see that it pained him to voice out the confession to me. He paused a moment, staring at the floor to compose himself again. “Make her happy, Ishida,” he says at last. “Do what I couldn’t and make her happy.”

“Okay. I will,” I nodded, carefully placing the box in my jacket pocket.

“I’ll do what I can to make Keigo stop harassing you.” He sighed again. I nodded again as well. “Now… I’ve got to get back to my homework I’ve missed. Make sure the door’s locked when you leave.”

I watched as the ginger haired boy turned to disappear up the stairs again. When he was gone, I let out the air I didn’t realize I had been holding. I turned, leaving the clinic. As I pulled the door closed, I made sure the door had locked behind me. Seeing that it had, I made sure the box was still secure in my pocket before finally leaving the area.

My pace was a quickened pace as I rushed home without running. I had to get ready to go to Rukia’s home for dinner that evening. Once I entered my apartment, I rushed to my couch to sit down, pulling the box from my pocket. What had the other boy gotten her that was so important that he give it to her? Looking at the black velvet box, I contemplated really giving it to the girl. Ichigo had been right; whatever was in this box, she deserved it. Very carefully, I opened the box.

As soon as the box was opened, I let out a soft gasp. I swore my heart stopped. Inside, lying so elegantly against the pearl white silk casing was a gorgeous diamond and white gold bracelet. My hands shook. How could the boy have afforded this?

I shook my head, closing the box back. Thoughts ran through my head then. Setting the box to the side, I stood, moving to disappear into my room and bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. There was a slight flushing in my cheeks. I felt nauseous. Guilt pulsed through my veins, feeling as if I’d ruined a great relationship.

’But she came to you, Uryuu,’ my mind spoke to me. ’She chose you. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this. She chose you.’

Looking at myself again, I nodded. I stared into the reflection of my deep, sapphire eyes.

“She did. She came to me.” I then lifted a hand to touch the mirror. The glass felt cool underneath my palm. I closed my eyes a moment. “I don’t have anything to feel guilty about. She came to me.”

With a slow smile, I pushed away from the mirror and moved to start a shower. Glancing at the clock, I noticed how close it had come to the time I needed to make it to the Kuchiki household. Cursing to myself, I rushed to get out of my clothes and into the shower. I had to hurry or else I was going to be late.

And I didn’t want to disappoint Rukia, or Byakuya, in being late to dinner. After all, Rukia was in for a pleasant surprise.