19AN: I don't own Bleach.
So, I swear my holiday is over. I started having online classes and going back to work. But then I looked at the IRMonth2022 prompts, and here came the plot bunnies that I wrote between classes while my professor was explaining about whatnot on my zoom window. Hahaha.
Day 1 prompt: boy meets girl
Day 2 prompt: glow
Day 4 prompt: fake it till you make it
This fic is just for fun :D
Uryuu leaned his shoulder on the locker, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He didn't like to ask for things more than once and he absolutely hated asking for help. And to ask this from his so-claimed rival and arrogant cousin, Kurosaki, of all people? Uryuu was that desperate.
During a 6-hour-long surgery with the neurosurgery attending in charge—the one and no other, Ishida Ryuuken—Uryuu had his ears full. His dad told him strictly that he had arranged another date for him with another ill-fated noblewoman on another Friday night tomorrow.
This was his 4th arranged date in a month—his 10th date in two months.
No matter how much Uryuu had told his dad that he wasn't interested, that he actually had a girlfriend that he loved to the moon and back and that he literally had a legit plan to marry her, Ryuuken would have none of it.
His dad and his clan expected him to marry someone from a rich noble family—not a kindergarten teacher with no prestigious family line and name.
Going on these dates—no matter how understanding and loving his girlfriend was, knowing that they were futile and meant nothing to him—still hurt Orihime. Behind her soft smile and understanding words, "It's okay, Uryuu-kun, I am okay, I know, I know where your heart is," Uryuu didn't have the heart to hurt the only woman he had ever loved in his life.
So, he came up with an idea, to ask and bribe his friend to go in his place and pretend to be Ishida Uryuu, the son of the famous neurosurgeon professor, Ishida Ryuuken.
Unfortunately, Uryuu had been a loner and an antisocial hermit all his life, so while he contemplated his choices, he found out that he did have only one choice in mind.
Kurosaki.
He only needed Kurosaki to go in his place—so, Orihime wouldn't get hurt—and while he was at it, Kurosaki had to make sure that he did everything he could to repel this poor noblewoman, so she wouldn't have any ideas and interests to proceed with this courtship anymore, and finally, when his dad had run out of options, he would leave him alone.
Just how many single snobby noble women were there in Japan?
Uryuu didn't care. He would repel all of them if he had to.
The things he did for love.
"Kurosaki." Uryuu gritted his teeth, impatient. "Please,"
The shirtless orange-haired cardiothoracic surgeon clicked his tongue, his hands rummaging for some clothes in his locker, and just plainly getting annoyed by his cousin's insistent request, but somehow also looking smug to hear his cousin beg.
"Just ask Chado."
Uryuu rolled his eyes. Kurosaki always had a way to test his patience and Uryuu did have a really low threshold when it came to him. "Yeah, right, because I am a Mexican like that,"
The blue-haired resident got even more irritated when Kurosaki had the audacity to chuckle at his own ridiculous idea.
"Ask Keigo,"
Uryuu sighed. "Do you think I am stupid?"
Keigo inappropriately and pathetically falling in love with some noble women that his dad set him up with was the last thing Uryuu needed right now.
"What is it for me again?" Ichigo raised a lone eyebrow.
Uryuu took a deep breath to keep his patience intact. He always could hear the 'punch me in the face I am asking for it' subtext whenever Kurosaki talked.
"An exceptional free birthday dinner." Because Uryuu was paying for the whole thing and The Reiatsu's Dining & Steak House was one of the most expensive fancy dinings in town that served the most mouthwatering Japanese Kobe steak around.
And Uryuu knew it was pointless to mention this because his cousin was very well-known for never easily catching any interest in anything romantic at all, but he had nothing else up his sleeves. "And a birthday date with a beautiful woman?"
Ichigo snorted. Uryuu wasn't even surprised by his reaction.
Yes, it was Ichigo's birthday tomorrow, and Uryuu knew he was being a little shit to ask him for this on his birthday, but the blue-haired chief resident knew better. Ichigo wouldn't be doing anything tomorrow. The orange-haired cardiothoracic resident told him already.
"I will cover all your night shifts in a week," the chief resident raised his offer.
Ichigo tilted his head slightly, his face, at least, seemed to consider the offer now. He put on the blue scrub over his head. "Make it three weeks, and you do laundry and clean the apartment for a month," he replied, his voice muffled by the fabric of his scrub.
Uryuu snorted. This bastard.
A soft thud was heard when he closed his locker. Ichigo looked at his reflection slightly in the mirror and tried to tame his orange spikes a little, but they stayed stubbornly out of control.
Uryuu swallowed his pride once again. "Final offer. One week of free night shift duties. I do laundry and clean for two weeks." Both cousins lived together in a shared apartment not far from their hospital.
Ichigo scoffed, patted Uryuu on his shoulder, and opted to leave. "Good luck on your date, Ishida."
"I will cover your night shift duties, do laundry, and clean the apartment for two weeks."
Kurosaki turned around then and Uryuu really wanted to punch the daylight out of his smug face, but he needed him well and sound tomorrow.
"Deal," he laid out his hand and Uryuu took it and held it way rougher than necessary.
"Your credit card?" Ichigo wasn't cheap, but there was no way in hell he would pay for the dinner that would cost almost half of his entire month's eating expenses with a stranger he barely knew.
Uryuu sighed and grunted, but obediently handed his card.
"Happy birthday," There was Tatsuki's voice on the other side of the line.
"Thanks," Ichigo replied, holding his phone between his shoulder and his cheek, as he was changing out of his blue scrub and putting on a light-blue dress shirt for "his" date tonight.
"So, what's the plan?" Tatsuki asked. "No birthday party whatsoever?"
The tomboy knew better. Ichigo hated parties. Or crowds. Or people in general. And ever since he became a doctor and was now going into his third year of residency, he barely went anywhere else but the hospital.
"Right. Dinner then, with your family?" Tatsuki knew the Kurosaki always held mandatory birthday dinners for Ichigo on this particular day in July.
Ichigo grunted, somehow annoyed to be reminded how alone he was on his 28th birthday. "My old man is going to this conference in Barcelona." Ichigo's dad, Isshin, was an oncologist surgeon at the same hospital. "You know Karin is still studying law in the States, so I told Yuzu not to bother,"
"Alright." Tatsuki somehow felt bad for her childhood best friend.
A bachelor like Ichigo, you know—young and handsome, rich, and smart—really shouldn't be spending his 28th birthday alone like this. Sometimes Tatsuki wondered why Ichigo never had a serious relationship with anyone. He just seemed so bored and uninterested in anyone and anything around him. His life was pretty dull—work, residency, surgeries; his hobbies for sport; hiking, mountain climbing, cycling, golfing, boxing; and his obsession with his dog. He spent most of his time with Chad. He had a nonexistent love life. He didn't sleep around, only occasionally went on dates, but he was never in love, and Tatsuki was worried a little too much, too often about that.
There was a reason why Tatsuki called, "Alright," she repeated. "Hang out with me—"
"With your ass-hat boyfriend? No thanks." Ichigo just didn't like the red-haired circus freak show boyfriend of Tatsuki's.
Tatsuki rolled her eyes, "Let's go on a double date." She ignored Ichigo's rude comment about her detective boyfriend. "You know, Renji has this childhood best friend, who, I can't stress this enough how this happens, is actually kind of my boss in the office. But she is cool, Ichigo, trust me, I think she is really—"
Not this again. Ever since Tatsuki started working at that Gotei 13 Law Firm, and met this new friend, the tomboyish lawyer had been pestering him with blind dates with this girl for like three months now.
He groaned, "Tatsuki,"
"What? I told you, she is beautiful and smart, and different." The tomboy rambled. "You know, what did you call it? Glows? Wait, no, sparks?" Nothing stopped Tatsuki. "Wait, no, what was it, chemistry?"
Okay, Tatsuki was just making fun of him now on purpose.
Ichigo rolled his sleeves up to his elbow and he didn't even bother to find a tie. It should be a fancy, formal dinner with a fancy suit, but Ichigo thought he just didn't want to care.
The tomboyish lawyer was still chattering through the phone, "Just go on this date with me and Renji, maybe you'll find that sp—," Tatsuki was even noisier now about his love life since she started dating Abarai Renji from the police department. That was just typical of people in love. They thought their single friends were miserable and sometimes just went full-on meddling.
Ichigo let out a tired sigh. "Will it make you shut up if I tell you I actually have a date tonight?"
Tatsuki spurted out her drink and coughed. "Wait, what?!"
Tatsuki asked him once about it.
"Why can't you give anyone a chance? Just one more date, Ichigo. One more date, and let's see where things go from there?"
But no one really caught his attention before. He was just not feeling it.
He shrugged and decided to tell her the truth as he was making a fist at another punching bag in the boxing ring. "I just can't feel the sparks."
Tatsuki snorted. "And what the hell do you know about sparks, Lover Boy?"
Ichigo scoffed. "The chemistry." His frown deepened. "And don't call me that."
Tatsuki laughed and watched her best friend. He was wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt, sweats running down his jaws and neck, and just… so Ichigo. Handsome, tall, with a body to die for, and yet he had been single for like forever. "Sometimes, I forget that behind this bad boy and uncaring asshole persona you keep putting on, there used to be your 15-year-old soul who read Shakespeare."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and wiped his sweat with his elbow. "Just shut up."
"So, what is it, you big softie? You believe in what people say that within the first 15 seconds of meeting someone, a guy knows whether or not she's the one?"
He scoffed again. Ichigo was always rude and arrogant in the way he talked. "Che. It is not like that either."
The sparks. The chemistry. The undeniable love at first sight. That one time looking at someone for the very first time and thinking, yeah this was it—she could be the one? Ichigo believed all of those. He just wouldn't admit it.
Maybe Tatsuki was right after all. He did read too much Shakespeare.
"Alright, from what I know, she is 28. She is a lawyer, working under this really high-class law firm." Uryuu was briefing him with some facts about 'his date' as the two walked through the hospital corridors to the drop-off zone. Ichigo really didn't put any effort into this date. He wasn't even going to drive. Chad was driving him.
"She is from the highest class of all noble families, so I really don't know how bad it is going to be—you know, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo knew. Being in a branch family of the Shiba, Ichigo was some kind of nobility himself. He just didn't really like to acknowledge that. He never sat well with the rules and troubles that came with being a noble. At least, it was a good thing his dad didn't do this shit Ishida's dad did, but he already heard a lot about those snobby rich girls. He actually had met some of them. Even the women from the lesser class were already a pain in the ass. What Ishida was saying was, just brace himself for a tripled headache.
"Remember one thing," Uryuu told him, sternly. Ichigo thought his cousin was being too noisy for his own good. "No, remember two things."
"What?" Ichigo asked, impatient with all Uryuu's nagging already, his hand on Chad's car's handle.
"I know this is a long shot, Kurosaki, but I don't want any complications." The blue-haired resident surgeon reminded Ichigo sternly.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue.
"Don't make her fall in love with you," Uryuu said.
Yeah, right, like that could happen.
Hearing that, Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle, like his cousin was saying the most stupid thing in the whole world. He shook his head and proceeded to get in Chad's car.
Uryuu knew his cousin was popular with the ladies—among the nurses, the midwives, the interns, even the cafeteria grandmas—though he could never understand the appeal. But Uryuu also knew how Kurosaki mostly acted like an asshole, so Uryuu was sure, that a guy like Kurosaki, no matter how handsome or hot (as the ladies called him), was definitely not going to be her cup of tea—the woman from the highest class of all the noble families there is.
"And, Kurosaki." It was an even longer shot, but Uryuu didn't want to take any chances. "Don't fall in love with her."
There was his boyish, cocky scoff again, and Ichigo waved him off and rolled up the car's window without another word.
Cocky bastard.
Kurosaki was indeed acting like an uncaring jackass all the time after all.
Ishida's messages were clear; go on the date, enjoy the food, and make sure that it is terrible so she won't ever ask for another courtship dinner.
So, Ichigo was doing all of those. He didn't dress up nicely and looking at the time on the car's display through his half-lidded eyes, he knew he was going to be late, at least 15 minutes.
Chad watched his best friend. He really didn't look like he gave a damn about the date. Here in his car, Ichigo was actually leaning back on the passenger's seat—his toned arms crossed in front of his chest—and he was, he was taking a nap. Chad could cut him some slack. His best friend had just gotten off a 3-hour-long surgery after all. But still.
"Ichigo, why did you take the offer?" The big guy asked then.
Even with his eyes closed, Chad could see his eyebrows furrowed to his default frowning face. He seemed to contemplate his answer for a little while and shrugged. "Free dinner?"
They served the best steak in the country after all.
Hearing his answer, the corner of Chad's lips lifted up. Agreeing to go on a fake-pretend date wasn't really Ichigo, but Ichigo did the things he did without a care, and yeah, Chad could only think, any bizarre things aside, Ichigo was Ichigo after all.
It was raining outside, Chad dropped him off and Ichigo jogged a little as he made his way into the fancy steak house. He cursed at the rain. His shirt was already messy as it was and he did not need it to be damp also.
Ichigo asked the nice waitress to lead him to the reservation under the name of Ishida Uryuu, and the lady gave him a wide smile and said, "Oh. Miss Kuchiki is already waiting for you, Mr. Ishida." She walked him through the fancy dining area and looked for table 15.
Ichigo nodded and could only think it wasn't that easy to get used to his new fake name. He walked lazily, his hands shoved in his pants pocket, his broad shoulders kind of slumped.
He remembered his goals, 'go on the date, enjoy the food, make sure that it is terrible so she won't ever ask for another courtship dinner.'
Ichigo huffed. Yeah, right. People said he was an ass when actually his cousin was way worse.
"That's Miss Kuchiki right there at table 15."
Ichigo wasn't really paying attention, he was saying, "Ok, thanks—" and then he stopped.
He stopped when he looked at her.
You know that famous saying that said that life sometimes works in a mysterious way? Like one minute your world is spinning in one direction, then you meet someone, then it stops?
Yeah. Ichigo. Ichigo was feeling it now when he saw her.
She was sitting there alone at table 15. Even when she was seated, Ichigo could tell that she was tiny. She was looking down at her phone (Ichigo let go of the fact that she was watching cat videos of all things). Her hair was in a half ponytail. It was midnight-black and it only reached her shoulders. She had glossy, white, pale skin, and slender eyebrows. Her delicate ears framed a button nose. Her cheeks were rosy red, probably from the cold outside.
In a mere second, Ichigo realized she had what it took to be a natural beauty. She didn't look like she put any effort into this date. Her lips were naturally pink without blatantly flashy lipstick, she didn't put on any eye make-up.
And when Ichigo got closer to their table, a pair of enticing, constellation-blue and purple eyes looked back at him.
She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.
They were practically glowing. She was technically glowing.
Ichigo expected the woman from the number one noble family to at least dress and doll up for a date. But she didn't. She did not look like most girls who prepared to go on dates but she looked beautiful. This Kuchiki woman actually looked like she was just getting off from work and went straight to here. She was wearing her professional attire—an expensive looking high-neck white shirt, grey blazer, and pants. Did Ishida say she was a lawyer?
8.2 seconds. It took him only 8.2 seconds.
"You must be Ishida Uryuu?"
Ichigo cleared his throat. He didn't know why it was dry all of sudden. He wanted to tell her no, he wasn't, but.
"Ishida," he offered his hand then.
She politely stood up to greet him and Ichigo was right. She was tiny. And she was so cute. Damn it, cute was never in his dictionary before.
"Kuchiki Rukia," she replied and took his hand. Ichigo's skin burned from the contact. Damn it, he felt like a stupid hormonal 15-year-old teenager. Her white hand contrasted his darker one. Her voice was deep and somehow held some arrogance and class.
When he took the empty seat across from her, he noticed that she was already eating a chocolate cake. He raised his eyebrows. He knew snobby noble women who were so strict with their eating and table manners. It looked like she really was not most girls who tried to impress her dates. Ichigo wondered if she was also forced to go.
Rukia noticed him staring. "Sorry, I ordered first. I came here straight from work and I am just really starving..." she said casually in a singsong voice like she didn't care while typing something on her phone.
"Nah, it's okay." He waved her off.
Ichigo couldn't take his eyes off her.
Once done with whatever texts she had been typing on her phone, Rukia then swiped her plate aside, shifted her seat closer to the table, and leaned into the table, and her rosy cheek leaned on one elbow.
"So, Ishida, tell me more about yourself?"
Her voice was cold and demanding like a queen who knew exactly what she wanted.
Ichigo mused, well for starters, he could tell her that he didn't like to be called Ishida.
Her eyes were looking straight at Ichigo's honey amber ones. It wasn't just eye contact. It was as if she was trying to read him.
And somehow Ichigo thought she was aware of the way his eyes went to her eyes then to her pink lips then to her eyes again.
She knew he was checking her out this whole time like a total douchebag. She knew he was looking and she knew he loved what he saw.
There was a glint in her eyes, and Ichigo didn't want to be a smug, but it almost felt like she was flirting back at him with her eyes alone.
She was looking deeply into his eyes, then her eyes moved to his lips, and she tilted her head a little when she checked out his broad shoulder and chest, as if she was judging him in a beauty contest, then they slowly trailed back to his eyes.
She tilted her head back and gave him the most beautiful, wicked smile he had ever seen. Okay. Ten minutes had not even passed and he was already turned on.
Ichigo huffed as he tore his gaze away.
The corner of her pretty pink lips lifted up a little bit, and at that moment Ichigo realized. He barely knew her, but he knew she was challenging him like a minx, and yet he couldn't be more attracted to her. Was this a thing?
He looked back at her, and Rukia's stare at him was still intense and playful, and adorably innocent all the same time. How could she pull that off all together? To be adorable and hot at the same time?
Ichigo didn't know but he realized one thing though.
He found them.
The sparks.
AN: Oh the ending originally should be more than this, I actually have it in my head... so maybe if I can write between online classes and work, I will write them.
Please tell me what you think :D
PS: sorry for the grammatical errors, English isn't my native language, but I'm trying haha.