#she gets butt juices everywhere. she got butt juices on my sisters homework (shes my sister's cat tbh)

[ratsbanes]

My cat feels like Dazai Osamu as a cat

Reasons: she is an absolute menace. she knocks cups off of tables for fun, she STEPS ON MY THROAT in the middle of the night to suffocate me, she has the stare™, and she is so much smarter than she looks. she will figure out how to get anywhere and everywhere, and she honestly loves to play with any string, yes, including my cosplay bandages. honestly this is just an excuse to show one of my cats

[darisu-chan]

The Lies We Tell Ourselves, 3

Chapter 3: Decide

“Every time he saw her he realised the reason why they always said humans are made of stardust.” ― Akshay Vasu

June, 2001

There were two things Kurosaki Ichigo didn’t understand about life: how his father’s mind worked, and Kuchiki Rukia’s entire being.

It had been a month since Kuchiki Rukia had come into his life in the most unexpected fashion: by sitting on his room in the dark. After having confused her for a burglar, he had discovered that, from then on, she was going to live with his family, and even worse, go to school with him. Apparently, or as Isshin had put it, Kuchiki Byakuya, Rukia’s older brother, had wanted his sister to attend a public school in a peaceful town, far away from Tokyo. Isshin, who somehow knew Byakuya (how was never explained to Ichigo), had suggested that Rukia come live with his family, and he could take care of her for the time being. Byakuya didn’t really know Isshin, for as it were he did entrust the care of his only sister to the man, and here they were. Rukia was to sleep with the twins in their room, while Ichigo was supposed to show her around school and town. This situation ended up with Rukia following him everywhere, which had started some rumors about them.

“Yo, Kurosaki, is that your girl?!” A guy had shouted one day when he saw them walking together home.

“Shut up!” The boy had angrily yelled back, turning bright red. Rukia had remained oblivious the entire time.

Their close proximity had facilitated their acquaintance, though. So far, Ichigo had discovered a few things about his new guest. Firstly, Rukia was spoiled rotten. This fact shouldn’t have surprised him, she was filthy rich after all, but still he was amazed by how she acted. It was not that she was impolite, or that she scoffed at the insignificance of his house as compared to her own mansion. She was spoiled in the sense that she seemed to have been sheltered all her life. She didn’t know how to do the laundry, or how to cook. She definitely had never even made her own bed! The good news was that little by little, and with the Kurosakis’ help, Rukia had been learning. However, it still baffled Ichigo how little she knew about mundane things. For instance, one day during lunch he had taken out a juice box Yuzu had given him in the morning. Rukia gasped and gaped at him the moment she saw said item.

“What is that?” She asked in amazement, her eyes shining brightly.

“This?” He asked, equally as surprised but for different reasons. “It’s a juice box.” It figures she had never seen one, and only drank fresh juice her entire life.

“I want one!” Rukia exclaimed.

The boy rolled his eyes. “Look into your lunch box, Yuzu packed you one as well.”

The girl looked into her lunch box and found what she had been looking for. “Yes!” She shouted in glee, and then blinked at the juice. “Ichigo?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you drink it?”

Ichigo had sweat-dropped, but he taught her anyway. The girl had watched him intently, observing how he put the straw on the juice box, making a hole in it. It had been a new experience for her. She had thanked him after that, as she happily sipped her juice. Ichigo just how to wonder how a fifteen year old girl could be so oblivious.

Her obliviousness transcended to her being unaware of the effect she had on the male population as well.

“How are you doing this beautiful morning, Kuchiki-san?” Keigo, his friend, would greet her every morning in an obvious attempt to flirt with her.

“Ah, Asano-kun, I’m doing well. How about you?” Rukia would politely say, inadvertently giving Keigo hope that he was being successful at flirting.

Keigo’s flirtations continued on during lunch, for Rukia had taken a liking to eating lunch with Ichigo’s group of friends, which consisted on Mizuiru, Chad, and, as previously mentioned, Keigo. This situation was troublesome for Ichigo. It meant that Rukia was invading every single one of his social circles. It also meant he had to spend lunch listening to Keigo’s jabbering.

“Kuchiki-san, you’re so smart!”

“Oh, Kuchiki-san, you look very pretty today?”

“Have I mentioned you have the most stunning eyes ever?”

The brown haired boy would exclaim his lame pickup lines every day, while the girl thanked him for his kindness. Mizuiru would laugh in the background at his friend’s attempts to win the girl over, while Ichigo only scoffed, and hit him when he went way too far in his advances.

Keigo, their class professed ladies’ man, wasn’t the only one that admired Rukia though. A few of their classmates had commented that she was very cute. Ichigo had also seen boys from other classes looking at the girl with appreciation. Even Mizuiru, who preferred older women, had blushed one time Rukia had, accidentally, gotten too close to his personal space. What was worse was that Rukia too didn’t realize a lot of rumors had spread about them, and the status of their relationship. Many people had asked Ichigo about it, and some, like Mizuiru and Keigo, didn’t disguise their comments about it. Yet, she remained unaware of these situations, much to Ichigo’s dismay.

Yes, Rukia was oblivious, but as Ichigo had soon found out, she was also very curious. She asked him a million questions on a daily basis, about everything and nothing. At first, the boy had thought she only asked to annoy him, for her first question had been “Why is your hair so orange?” But overtime he discovered that she simply was curious. Rukia asked him how to do the laundry, how to iron her clothes, why did he sit on the roof for lunch at school, why did he hit Keigo, why were people afraid of him at school, and many other things. He had acquired patience to answer to each and every question her mind would conjure, though. After two weeks, Ichigo stopped getting annoyed at her over her questions, and started encouraging. Asking always leads to learning… or at least that’s what he had always been told.

Kuchiki Rukia was also stubborn as hell, probably much more stubborn than Ichigo himself. Things had to go her way, or else she’d get angry. She was a short-tempered, headstrong girl, who often cursed when angered. This was amusing to Ichigo, since he had never imagined a member of the Kuchiki family could use such words. He often annoyed her just to hear her curse. Rukia also hit hard when mad. More than once she had kicked him on the shin, or hit him on the head for pissing her off. The first time it had happened, Ichigo thought it had been revenge because he had kicked her butt during their first meeting. But then, it started happening over and over again. He guessed this is what he got for angering her. However, that situation went both ways, for as it so happened, Rukia had developed a liking for annoying Ichigo as well. She tended to use a saccharine tone of voice to speak to him in public, knowing he hated her fake accent. The girl also purposely countered everything he said, even though he was right. Rukia also did her homework while sitting on Ichigo’s bed, knowing that it pissed him off. This led them to getting into argument after argument, most of them being particularly dumb and nonsensical. It soon became their thing, and people were surprised when they didn’t hear them arguing.

She was also incredibly kind and dutiful. One day, when the two were walking home after school, they passed by the park, and saw how a little boy, not older than seven years old, fell down and started crying. Rukia immediately ran towards him, and helped him up.

“Are you alright?” She asked him, taking a napkin out her bag, and cleaning the boy’s face with it.

“No, my knee hurts.” Then, she noticed that the little boy’s knee had been scraped, no doubt from the fall.

“Let’s cure it.” She told the boy, smiling. “Ichigo, do you have a Band-Aid?” The girl now turned to him.

Ichigo nodded and gave her one of the Band-Aids he always carried with him, due to the amount of fights he got involved in. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Rukia gently put it on the boy’s knee, who by this point had stopped crying. “Done! Do you feel better?”

“Yes! Thank you, onee-san!” He told her, and then stood up. He briefly hugged her, and thanked her again for her help before leaving.

Other instances of Rukia’s kindness had manifested when Yuzu fell ill one day, and Rukia volunteered to clean the dishes that day. Or when he was having trouble with his homework, and Rukia had stayed up with him late at night explaining him how to do it. Of course, she liked to disguise her kindness for him with sarcasm, or jokes, as if she didn’t want him to think she could be a nice person. Ichigo wasn’t fooled though.

Among other things Ichigo had discovered about Rukia were that she liked to read horror manga, but since apparently her brother had forbidden her from reading such things, claiming they would rot her mind, she read them secretly, and became embarrassed whenever Ichigo caught her reading them. Yet, soon they started trading manga, although Ichigo thought her taste in comic books sucked. She was also fascinated by a cartoon character called Chappy the Rabbit, which she drew everywhere and liked to buy his merchandise. And speaking of drawings, she was terrible at it. Ichigo liked to insult her drawings whenever he had the chance, which only led him to being hit by her notebooks.

The last thing he noticed was her beauty. Ichigo was not blind, he had known from the very beginning that Rukia was pretty, beautiful even, with her smooth skin, black hair, and doe-like eyes. She looked like a porcelain doll, or a delicate princess from a fairytale. However, her beauty wasn’t really traditional. Rukia wasn’t one of those girls who were charming and bubbly, like Inoue Orihime. Her beauty was a melancholic one. The sad heroine in a tragedy. Ichigo had noticed often how she’d have a faraway look on her eyes, when she thought no one was looking. How her eyes would become downcast, and her smile would disappear. The girl had built walls around her, probably to protect herself from the outside world. The boy knew only a great sadness could have prompted her to close herself to other people. He knew this for he had done so after his mother’s death. In this aspect, Rukia remained an enigma to Ichigo. Who was Kuchiki Rukia, really? A childish, oblivious, spoiled girl? A kindhearted girl? A stubborn and mean girl? A sad girl, barely hanging in there? Or a mix of various traits?

Fifteen year old Ichigo hadn’t known then that he’d discover more things about the girl than he had originally planned to. He also ended up finding more things about himself in the process, and how they all related to Rukia.

Their fate had been decided from the start.

August, 2015

More than a week had gone by since that fateful night at the bar with Rukia, and so far Ichigo hadn’t seen her again. He didn’t need to see her, though, she was already in his mind 24/7. Her words kept haunting him every second of every day. Grand Fisher, his mother’s murderer, had been caught. He was going to be tried for one of his crimes. If Ichigo sought out the police, the man could be tried for his mother’s murder as well. He would pay for his crimes. But only if Ichigo was brave enough to confront this situation. Could he even be? That was the question that plagued his mind.

Ichigo mulled over this situation for days, not sharing the news with anyone. Telling Orihime was out of the question. It involved telling her he had seen Rukia, which Ichigo knew wouldn’t sit well with her. It also involved opening up to things he’d rather not share. He hadn’t mentioned this to his sisters either. What for? They had grown up now, getting over the pain of losing their mother at such a young age, and forgetting their brother’s involvement in the whole affair. It wouldn’t do them any good to talk about their mother’s death. So, Ichigo kept it all to himself, bottling up his emotions like he was used to doing. Honestly, there had been just one person that he could have told everything he was feeling, but he didn’t dare to. It wasn’t Rukia’s place to be his confidant anymore, even if she had offered to do so.

The man decided to act like usual, or at least try to, for he was more distant than normal. If his wife or child had noticed this change, they didn’t say anything, and neither had his sisters the few times they had seen each other. His father, though, was different altogether. Kurosaki Isshin prided in knowing his children’s each and every mood by heart. He had memorized the way each of his children would look when happy, sad, or angry. So, the moment he had seen Ichigo the Monday after Rukia’s visit, he had known something had happened to his son. Ichigo was, truly, an easy person to read if one cared enough to learn his gestures. He was frowning more deeply than normal, his eyes had a far-away look, and he was jumpy, as if he had been waiting for something to happen. However, Isshin had the presence of mind not to push Ichigo to share his feelings. Isshin knew that his son would seek him out if he needed. But after almost two weeks had gone by with no change in Ichigo, Isshin grew worried and decided to confront him.

It was the weekend, and the Kurosakis had reunited at Isshin’s house for dinner. Yuzu was cooking, with Orihime’s help. Karin was playing with Kazui, teaching him how to play soccer, much to the boy’s delight. This left Isshin and Ichigo all to themselves. The father took this alone time to talk with his son. The two were drinking beers as they watched Karin and Kazui play.

“What’s wrong, son?” Isshin asked bluntly.

Ichigo blinked twice. “What do you mean?” Then took a sip of his beer.

“You’ve been acting weird lately.” Isshin answered, paying close attention to his son’s actions.

“Che. You noticed?” The younger man replied, deciding against hiding information from his father.

“It’s hard not to notice. I’m your father, after all.”

Ichigo nodded. “That’s right.”

“So, what’s wrong?” Isshin asked yet again.

The man sighed, knowing well he had to be honest with his father. “I saw Rukia.”

That single sentence made alarms in Isshin’s mind go off. “Oh?” He raised an eyebrow, silently questioning him.

Ichigo shrugged. “It wasn’t like that. She just wanted to tell me something.”

“Which was?” The father prompted.

“The police caught Grand Fisher.” Ichigo simply said.

Isshin gaped at him, then grew somber.

“I’m guessing by your reaction that you didn’t know.”

“No, I didn’t.” Isshin admitted. “Why did she tell you?”

“She thought that I had to know given, erm, the circumstances. Apparently, the prosecutor will take anything he can to make the judge give him the capital punishment. They don’t want Grand Fisher to see the light of day ever again.”

“So Rukia-chan told you in case you want to testify against him, right?”

Ichigo nodded. “That’s right.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know.”

Isshin nodded in understanding. “Who else knows?”

“Only us.” Ichigo said, confirming Isshin’s suspicions.

“Orihime-chan doesn’t know?”

“There’s no reason for her to worry about it.”

Isshin disagreed but didn’t want to push it. “Have you taken a decision already?”

Ichigo sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to get justice. Hell, god knows the world would be better if there was a possibility he’d never be out again. But it just comes to whether or not I want to open up past wounds.”

The father nodded in understanding. “Do you want to hear my opinion?”

“Please. Go ahead.”

“You should testify.”

Ichigo looked at his father pointedly. “Why?”

“I know you, son. And I know you’d never be content with knowing you could’ve done something to avenge your mother. If there’s even a minimal chance that Grand Fisher will be charged for your mother’s murder, then you should do it. Only then, you won’t feel as guilty as you do even now. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

The younger man sighed, and then sipped the rest of his beer. “No, you’re right. I should do it, if not for me, then for mother. I think… I think she’d want me to testify too.”

Isshin smiled. “She would, knowing it’d bring you peace of mind.”

“Then I will.”

“I’m glad.”

“Dear, Kurosaki-san, dinner is ready!” Orihime’s cheerful voice interrupted them.

“Coming!”

Once Ichigo had taken a decision, he felt at peace. An anxiousness remained, of course, but he didn’t feel as restless as before, which could be noticed given his current mood. He was no longer moody or jumpy, but felt light, a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders. Now that he was calm, Ichigo started planning his next actions. He had already contacted the detectives in charge of the case, and gave them the information he knew. His father had also decided to sue Grand Fisher for the death of his wife in any way he could. Father and son had both agreed that it was best if the murderer had enough on him, so that the judge would at least give him life imprisonment. It was up to the judge, at this point. Ichigo also realized he probably needed to tell Rukia what he had decided to do, given the fact that she had set this into motion. He should thank her on behalf of his family. But, that call could wait. It was a sunny Wednesday, and since the clinic had been empty, Ichigo had planned to go to the park with Kazui. Lately, he hadn’t spent as much time with his son as usual, mostly because he had been too anxious to play with the child. The boy had, probably, noticed that his father hadn’t been himself, and was happy to have his father back.

Father and son walked hand in hand to the park, the young boy retelling a joke he had heard back in school. Summer vacation was ending, and this was one of the last times Ichigo had to spend time with his child, before Kazui got busy with homework. They soon arrived to the park, where many kids and their parents were playing, no doubt having the same idea Ichigo had had. The man was about to ask Kazui what he wanted to do, when the boy suddenly spotted someone in the crowd, and started sprinting towards them.

“Ichika!” The boy shouted when he noticed a red-headed girl playing on the swings.

The girl stopped swinging when she heard her name being called. She stood up quickly, and, recognizing the voice, ran towards the boy. “Kazui!”

The sound of the girl’s voice alerted her mother, who had been standing near the swings, where she could watch her daughter. The woman turned around, her long hair was swinging with the wind along with her yellow sundress, and stared at the children with wide eyes. Then, she turned to look at Ichigo. Surprised was written all over Rukia’s face, matching Ichigo’s own shocked expression, both wondering how they had ended up in this situaton. Then, they turned to look at their children, who were hugging each other tenderly, no doubt having missed the other after not having seen each other for over a year.

“What are you doing here?” Kazui asked his friend, as they kept hugging.

“Mom and I moved back here.” Ichika answered.

“Great!”

“Hello, Ichika.” Ichigo said, approaching the pair of children, with uneasiness.

The kids stopped hugging. “Hi, Kurosaki-san.”

“Hello, Kazui.” Rukia said, as she too walked towards the children.

“Hi, Kuchiki-san.” The boy said.

“Mom, can I play with Kazui?” Ichika asked her mother.

“Of course you can, honey.” Rukia answered.

“Go on, you two, have fun.” Ichigo added, noticing his son’s excitement.

The children didn’t need to be told twice. Hand in hand, they walked towards the swings, chatting as if they had seen each other recently. Ichigo shook his head in amusement, and then turned to look at Rukia, who had been watching the kids.

“Fancy meeting you here.” He attempted to start a conversation. Rukia snorted. Dork.

“I’ll say. I’ve been coming here every Thursday since I moved back to Karakura, and I had never seen you once until today.”

The man scratched his head sheepishly. “I had free time, so I thought it’d be a good moment to play with my son. Too bad he ditched me for your daughter.”

Rukia smiled fondly, still watching the kids. “They sure missed each other, right?”

Ichigo nodded. “Seems like it.”

“It’s great to see Ichika so happy. I hadn’t seen her smile like this in a long time.” Rukia added, watching as Kazui pushed Ichika on the swing, the girl laughing out loud.

“Was the divorce tough on her?” Ichigo asked her.

“Yeah, but having to hear Renji and I fight all the time was worse for her. She started feeling better once we moved here. It’s like a fresh start. She made new friends in school, and joined a soccer team. And now that she has seen Kazui, her life has improved.” Rukia explained.

“I’m glad. She’s a kid, she should be having fun.”

“Yes. I guess this is the effect Karakura Town has on people. It brings back their happiness, and makes them feel at ease.” Rukia smiled lovingly.

The wind passed around them, disheveling their hair.

“What do you mean?” Ichigo asked.

The woman shrugged. “Well, that’s the effect it’s always had on me. Before I came here for the first time, I was really miserable. I didn’t like my school, and felt very lonely at home after my sister died.”

Ichigo nodded, remembering the Rukia he had first met, who at times looked gloomy and nostalgic.

“But, after I started living with your family, I became a different person. I started laughing more, I liked my new school, I made friends, and going home wasn’t something I dreaded anymore, because I finally had a warm family waiting for me.” Right then, she was the most beautiful woman Ichigo had ever seen. The way her eyes sparkled as she reminisced about days long passed, and that tender smile she wore. “Those were my happiest days, and it was all thanks to you and your family, Ichigo.” Rukia said honestly, making her companion blush. “I don’t think I ever thanked you enough.”

“You don’t need to thank us for anything, Rukia.” The man scratched his neck, a nervous habit his companion knew well. “It was our pleasure to have you in our house. You also made our days happier. Yuzu and Karin really liked having an older sister, and you know how goat chin is, the more the merrier.” He conveniently omitted saying he had also been happy to have her there.

Rukia laughed. “But I really feel like I should thank you, anyway. I found myself in Karakura, but…” She trailed off.

“But?” Ichigo prompted, feeling curious.

“It all changed when I moved back to Tokyo for college.”

Ah. Those were bad times, Ichigo remembered them well. A certain scene kept repeating in his mind, and the what-ifs which plagued him often. “Don’t go! Please, don’t do it!” Maybe if Rukia hadn’t gone away, if she had stayed… But there was no use to crying over spilled milk anymore.

“I felt pressured by the clan, holding up to their and my brother’s expectations. I also felt lonely. That’s when I started losing myself again, and I haven’t quite recovered from it.”

“Not even when you married Renji?” Ichigo asked.

“Especially when I married Renji.” The woman laughed without mirth. “I was too hasty in accepting his proposal, and I honestly married him without thinking things through, which is why we ended up divorcing. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t. Of course I didn’t notice it until Renji’s work brought us back here to Karakura.”

“Wait, that was over a year ago. So you had been having problems before this year?” Ichigo asked, surprised. The last time he had seen them together, they looked happy.

“Yes, but I think it all became clearer when we were here. There’s something in the air of this town, Ichigo, which snaps sense into my head. I started wondering what I was doing with my life, you know? Why wasn’t I working anymore? Why was I stressed all the time? Why did I feel like I couldn’t really talk to Renji? And most important of all, why did I feel like such a failure as a mother? Before moving here, I couldn’t really connect with Ichika, mostly because Renji and Ichika have this father-daughter bond that I’ve never known how to fit into. I realized I needed to form my own bond with my daughter, different than the one she has with Renji, and for that to happen I needed to answer all the questions that troubled me, which led me to a path Renji didn’t quite like.”

Suddenly things were making more sense to Ichigo. “Is that why you returned to Tokyo?”

Rukia turned her eyes towards the ground. “He thought moving back to Tokyo would help our relationship.”

“But it didn’t.” He stated.

The woman shook her head. “No, not at all. If anything, it got worse. I had already changed too much for it to work out, I’m afraid.”

The man nodded in understanding. “So after the divorce you came back here, to start anew.”

“I thought that it’d be good for Ichika and me, to continue with my ongoing changes. Karakura always brings out the best of me. It’s the only place where I’ve ever felt free. I thought it’d be the same for Ichika, and I wasn’t mistaken. She is happier here. She has said so herself.”

“It’s great that you’re so happy, although I don’t truly understand it.”

Rukia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Karakura has always made me feel trapped.” Ichigo confessed. This surprised Rukia.

“Trapped?”

“Like I don’t have a choice but to follow the status quo.” This admission surprised Ichigo too. Since when had he started feeling this way?

“Ah. I see.” Rukia said. “Perhaps it’s because you’ve always lived here.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Ichigo’s cellphone ringing. It was Orihime wondering if they were coming back home soon.

“I’m sorry Rukia, but we need to go.”

“Yeah, us too. It’s late already.”

“Kazui!” Ichigo called his son.

“Ichika!” Rukia called her daughter.

“Let’s go!”

The children approached them, looking sheepish. The adults raised their eyebrows.

“What’s going on?” Ichigo asked.

“Is there something you wish to tell us?” Rukia added.

“Kazui and I were thinking…” Ichika started saying.

“Thinking what?”

“That it’d be great if we could play together again sometime.” Kazui finished the sentence.

Ichigo and Rukia turned to look at each other.

“It’s not a bad idea.” Rukia admitted, making her daughter smile.

“Yeah, I think it’s actually pretty good.” Ichigo nodded.

“So is that a yes?” Ichika asked.

The adults shared a look. “Yes.”

“Yeah!” The children cheered and the parents laughed.

It was then decided that every Thursday, as long as the children didn’t have a lot of homework, and the adults didn’t have work to do, they would meet at the park to play. Unknowingly, the children had set into motion a course of events that could not be stopped, even if they tried.

Destiny is such a fickle thing.