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The Bell Rung	By : c0p13r Category: Bleach > General Views: 299 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I dont own BLEACH nor its characters and make no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 1-The Ringing Bell
- 2-Don’t you read?
- 1
- 2
ccc
            Giselle was a type of ditzy like Orihime. Ichigo didn’t think this in a bad way, but it seemed that she couldn’t concentrate on one thing when there were other things much more to her interest to contemplate. But in class, Orihime had steely focus to maintain a strong grade, even though she had so much going on in her life. Giselle, on the other hand, acted like a child, sitting sideways in her seat to kick her legs idly in Ichigo’s direction – to taunt him, he wondered and dismissed to not seem so self-interested – and humming playfully.
            Yet when Ochi-sensei called on her to read a page, to get her to pay attention, Gigi cheered acquiescently, checked the page Ichigo was on to turn to it in her own book, and read in perfect English. It was startling, because Ichigo had always thought himself pretty good at language, and when asked to read next, Bambietta proved herself just as capable. Ochi-sensei looked impressed, saying that the grades in English would start to look brag-worthy.
            What were these two girls doing in school and in this class? Whatever subject, they excelled at, even if Gigi sometimes gave woeful commentary – “This is so boring~” Ichigo tried to stay on task, but the talkative Giselle made it hard when conversing one-sidedly with Bambietta and sometimes going to him for opinion, a pencil, or a “What page, Ichi~chan~♥” He’d introduced himself on their second interaction, when she reintroduced herself on a more personal setting.
            The end of the school day could not have come soon enough. Ichigo didn’t do well with the chatty type, and Giselle was certainly chatty.
            “So where do you go after school?” she asked as he stood up and sorted out his bag.
            “Um, home, usually,” he said plainly with a look like it was obvious.
            “Home! Where’s that?!” chimed Giselle, looking away and pulling at her hair while Bambietta gave a loud snort to her acting.
            “It’s in walking distance,” answered Ichigo, hoping she’d take the hint. Not to be rude, but he wasn’t about to divulge personal things about himself and his family to someone he didn’t know; all the more wary about strangers since Ginjo invaded his life.
            But Giselle persisted, jumping up from her chair the second he rounded Bambietta and made for the door. She jumped in his way. “Can we join you?”
            “Wha-What?!” Ichigo flushed.
            “Bambi-chan and I are behind,” Giselle lied, having excelled today. “So how about you give us some private tutoring lessons?”
            “I-I…!” Ichigo stammered, her gaze stabbing at him, wearing him down with that cuteness that Keigo had warned him about. Tricks like that didn’t usually work on him. “I,” he finally settled, “I can’t today.” A weak smile flourished, and he pointed to the door. “After school today, I have soccer practice.”
            “Uhwaa~ You play soccer?! That’s so cool!” Giselle grabbed Ichigo’s arm, holding it tight to her body, and rotated him to the sitting girl. “Isn’t that cool, Bambi-chan?”
            Bambietta ignored them, favoring the dialogue of the window.
            “H-Hey!” There was a rummaging behind them; someone was clamoring over desks to get his hooks in the conversation. Keigo came upon them excitedly, and for a moment, Ichigo was willing to let him talk if it meant Giselle would let go of his arm. “I’m totally free! I can give you private tutoring lessons!”
            Ichigo pitied the poor soul who trusted their academics to Keigo of all people.
            “No~” Giselle easily refused, swishing back and forth. “I want Ichi-chan. He looks soo~ smart~”
            Ichigo didn’t like the flattery – it almost came out sarcastic – but he didn’t like the hellfire blazing in Keigo’s eyes either. It’s not like he had suggested tutoring. He was striving to avoid it and had even thought that Keigo might deter them. It made him shudder to think about the risk of accepting Giselle’s proposal with the condition that Keigo join, hoping that that would make her rethink it and change her mind. Maybe pass her off to Tatsuki; Tatsuki could rein in people like Giselle easier.
            And speaking of Tatsuki…
            “What do you think you’re doing?” Tatsuki grabbed the scruff of Ichigo’s collar, tugging him out of Giselle’s arm and pitching him back on the path of leaving. “Didn’t you say you needed to get to practice? Hurry up and get down there! You don’t have time to be getting friendly with the new girls!”
            Giselle blinked confusedly, and Bambietta finally shifted her gaze, sizing up the loud friend of Kurosaki Ichigo.
            “I was on my way.” Ichigo complained as he straightened himself out. “And I wasn’t doing anything. Tch.” He glanced at Giselle and, for some reason, Bambietta; Bambietta looked back to the window. He didn’t want to leave on unfriendly terms with new students, especially ones that were sitting right next to him from now on. So he raised his hand in parting. “I gotta go.”
            Giselle took it rather well. “Okay! Then we’ll see you later, Kurosaki Ichigo~♥”
            Determinedly, Keigo pointed to himself, giving his own introduction. But he must have been speaking from a different plane of existence by how easily Giselle ignored him, turning to Bambietta and saying that they should go get a snack first.
            Leaving the room together, Tatsuki smacked Ichigo on the back with her bag; it didn’t hurt, but he said “Ow” anyway to express his annoyance. “Since when are you all talkative with girls?! Especially girls like that?”
            Ichigo rolled his eyes, walking side by side with her. “I didn’t start it; she did. It’s not like I could just ignore her.” He peered over at her, noticing that she wasn’t pleased with his answer, and so he continued, “I talk with you, don’t I?”
            “That’s different,” Tatsuki contended, though there was a slight reddening of her face and a glimmer of satisfaction that she hid beneath her scolding ways. “What I’m saying is”—She looked back to room 3-3 suspiciously—“there’s something really off about those two.”
            “I guess,” Ichigo said after a moment’s reflection. He felt it too, but it conflicted with what he felt in his gut; like they instinctually were his allies. At least to some part of him, though he could not explain it eloquently.
            “Just save all that chitchat for later,” Tatsuki said in closing. “I’d say you have enough girl troubles in your life without dealing with them.”
            “What are you talking about? Oomph!”
            Tatsuki folded her arms and smiled broadly, as though she had mapped it perfectly: the collision of Ichigo with Orihime, who oftentimes wandered up the stairwell at this time with sharp turns, always lost in dizzy thoughts that a regular human just could not comprehend, trying to match words in a song that was meant for extremely marginalized careers. How many clown plumbers needed an anthem for a day they all ate pickled radishes at noon anyway?
            Anyway, Ichigo had collided with her, and being the larger frame, his body deflected her and she was on her way to tumbling down the stairs if not for Ichigo’s expert reflexes. He caught both of her hands in his own and pulled her up against him as if they were hugging.
            The gossiping onlookers from Ochi-sensei’s class stared enviously. “No way. Inoue too?! It’s that hair of his!”
            “Sorry, Inoue!”
            “N-No, I should have been looking!”
            Tatsuki chortled at the two breaking away and acting like bashful kids. Both could do with a little reality, and if she was destined to play matchmaker, so be it. They should try to process their feelings with a bit more maturity, but that was unlikely to happen any time soon. Oh well… Tatsuki just patted Ichigo heavily on the shoulder and said, “C’mon! You gotta get to soccer practice, and we gotta go to work! Right, Orihime?”
            Only halfway getting over the moment she was pressed against Ichigo’s body, Orihime distractedly looked to her best friend and then gave a nod. “R-Right! Hehe!” She turned about, now walking beside Tatsuki while Ichigo was a few steps ahead of them. “I was coming up to see you, Tatsuki-chan! I’m so excited about the lyrics I came up with in class! But I wanted to ask you if the rhythm should go boom-boom-boom♪ or cha-cha-chaa♪”
            Tatsuki patted her head like a child, snickering. “Whatever you feel is right in your heart, Orihime-chan.”
ccc Later; The bakery ccc
            “Wow! Look at all the choices, Bambi-chan!” Gigi wasn’t afraid to press her face against the display window of the pastries, shoving her wagging backside out behind her, which started to draw a crowd of intrigued men. And the side eye-candy was reason to linger until Bambi reproached them with a terrifying scowl; they’d disperse as casually as they could, clearing their throats, acting like they had seen something else of interest, or just turning their eyes innocently skyward.
            “What are we doing here?” griped Bambi, looking down at her indecisive companion.
            Gigi was drooling. “Good thing Lil’s not with us. She’d eat it all and not leave any for us! Hahaha! Oh, that one looks really good!” She was pointing at a cartoony skull design of whipped frosting with blueberry eyes. But, and she looked confused upon further inspection, was it sitting on a disc of sliced pickle? Very little could put her off her game, but ruining such a cute treat with pickle instead of kiwi…!
            “We don’t need to be here!” Bambi snarled with rising anger, already noticing the next gawker stopping outside the shop to do some ogling of Gigi’s backside.
            “You said you’d take me for a snack,” Gigi answered back. “Don’t be stingy.”
            Bambi bristled angrily. They were forbidden from attacking unless it came down to it, but would it be such a loss if Gigi was…?! “You have to do what I say, Gigi! Don’t forget that I’m the leader here!”
            “I’m here!”
            Out of instinct, Bambi turned to the door, her eyes widening a little. A face she recognized from the Datan; one of Kurosaki’s allies and an S-class healer. Inoue Orihime.
            Bambi reeled in her surprise, settling her nerves. There was no need to concern herself when Inoue, Kurosaki, and even Ishida had no clue who they were yet. She relaxed and just watched the girl greet the shopkeeper while rounding the counter. She put on her work hat, tied her candy-striped apron around her waist, washed her hands, and was ready to serve.
            Immediately, she looked at the two potential customers, one of whom was showing unmistakable interest in some of her own works; namely the Pickled Skull. She beamed excitedly. “Have you decided?” she asked after a moment, making sure that the girl’s blue eyes hadn’t moved from that spot.
            Gigi ignored her, contemplating the pickle a while longer. Then her eye veered to another decorated treat further in the corner, as though it was ashamed of being out at all. But Gigi saw something special and caught the front of Bambi’s blouse to yank her down to see. “Look at that one!” Gigi pointed, and Bambi, while cursing at Gigi, had to see what was causing such a fuss. It was… a strawberry… A strawberry with diced carrot sprinkled on top. The face was grumpy, painted on with dye, but the presentation of fluffy creams and surrounding cherries and peaches on such a small work was thorough and thought out. Carrot and strawberry might not have seemed a good pair for the palate, but Gigi was hysterical with laughter. “It looks like Kurosaki Ichigo!”
            “Wha-What?!” Orihime’s face scorched. Being the artist behind that display, it was rather transparent what was on her mind when she was doing her work, but she had thought the added cherries and whatnot would distract from the obvious! “N-No, it’s not!” she stammered, hurriedly taking the fruit out of the window to put out of sight. “That was Cherry-senpai, who watches over…!”
            Gigi and Bambi were rising up from behind the glass, the latter yanking the former’s hand off of her chest and fixing up her disheveled bra. Gigi was still laughing, wiping a tear out of her eye when she finally noticed Orihime. Her eyes lit up and she began to survey the flushed girl with great appreciation. It didn’t even occur to her that this was a special interest in the Datan. All she saw was a beautiful woman with a pronounced bust shoving out against her apron.
            Orihime felt the ridicule mercifully disappear, so she took a calming breath, and entered the guise of customer service; easy for her. “How,” she fumbled a moment from the earlier panic, “How can I help you today?”
            “Well, she’s buying,” announced Gigi, draping over the irate Bambi and being shoved away, “so you’ll have to ask her.”
            “What the hell was all that window shopping if you were just going to leave it up to me to order?!”
            “Because you’re the leader,” hummed Gigi, rolling her eyes upward with an innocent smile. “Did you forget?”
            Bambi recoiled at having her own words thrown back at her, seething furiously at these taunts. No powers… No executions! No bombs blowing irritating heads to oblivion! But she had other methods to get back at her.
            Pulling her wallet out of her skirt pocket, she took out a few bills – more than enough for a guessed purchase – and shoved her finger at what she wanted. “Give me that pickle cupcake!”
            “Aw~” whined Gigi despairingly, though Orihime was all too happy to see her creation finally go home with someone.
            “I made this one myself,” she said, picking it out and placing it into a white box. “I came up with the idea while working on my song ‘Drum-Drum goes the Happy Fish!’”
            Bambi was all the more delighted to hear this explanation, sneering with great, wicked relish as she took the box and shove it into Gigi’s chest. Gigi looked mortified to be holding it. “I’ll make sure she eats every bite,” Bambi said, though not to Orihime, yet, again, Orihime was happy to hear it, thinking it as a compliment. “Now let’s go.” She put her fists on her prominent hips, which swayed most alluringly in the flowing gray skirt, and a despondent Gigi was trailing while looking at the box caring the loathsome treat.
            “W-Wait!” called out Orihime before she could think better of it, but it was a niggling little detail that would make her wonder a bit too much, which was not a good thing at the start of a work shift.
            Only Bambi turned to her, but partway; she wanted to leave.
            “Um…” Orihime gestated in place. Honestly, she wasn’t good at these sorts of things. But it was better just to be honest and blunt, elsewise she’d wind up in a mess like with Riruka-chan’s group. “You-You know Kurosaki-kun?”
            Gigi sprung up to answer just when Bambi was ready to say ‘No’ and leave. “Yep! We know him! We’re neighbors!”
            The declaration stupefied Orihime for a moment. In fact, it unsettled her, considering how nice these two looked. Two of them living right next to Kurosaki-kun? She was already starting to construct wild ‘what if’ scenarios, where that debonair Ichigo would loosen his tie and invite his neighbors in for tea and exchange criticisms about the bread Inoue had brought over yesterday.
            “Oh,” she got out as evenly as she could. “I’m sure that… Uh…” She decided to smile in spite of her near-jealous concerns. She bowed and politely said to them, “I hope you can be friends!”
            Gigi guffawed loudly, holding up the cupcake from the box. “We intend to! Haha!” Without thinking, she took a bite; pickle and all. Bambi grinned malevolently, but Gigi’s face lit up with absolute shock. “It’s good!” she gasped.
            “What?!” shrieked Bambi at this improbability.
ccc Later, after soccer practice ccc
            It was brilliant! Amazing! The team joined together, leaping in frenzy or jabbering excitedly about how well they played today! Everything organized, everyone moving in uniform, going through their plays with gusto, shouting out their ‘specials’ from time to time – inspired by the legendary ferocity of Arisawa’s Dragon Bazooka – and Kurosaki Ichigo proved himself a goalie well paid for.
            He wasn’t even trying!
            “Imagine when he tries!” the team encouraged one another. “No one can get by him!” “Yeah, yeah!”
            Not only had he given them reason to hope, Ichigo’s mere presence had energized them. Sure, he was second choice after Chad, but standing next to the him, Ichigo granted that players were less likely to charge at a giant than himself, regardless of rumors.
            It was a… job, he considered; not wanting to say it was a workout when he hadn’t broken a sweat even when going through the paces of blocking every ball. He had dodged millions of petal blades and had stopped, barehanded, a sword that was fused to the hand of a transcendent being. No matter how much these players screamed ‘Super Star Burst!’, they weren’t getting by him.
            “I say we stick around and play some more!” “I’ll get by Kurosaki-san next time! Just wait and see!”
            But the contract was only for three hours, and Ichigo wasn’t that into soccer; he just had athletic acumen. “Alright,” he called out behind him, though he was sure no one was listening. “I’ll be heading out now.”
            The team just kept babbling. Well, in a small way, he was glad they were passionate and hadn’t given up hope. His hope was that they’d stay strong when his contract ended.
            Stretching, moving his shoulders in circles, taking off his gloves, he walked to the locker room. He removed his shirt, socks and shoes, then his shorts and boxers, stepping into a shower stall for a brisk rinse. Everything was quiet and calm so far; he relaxed even though the water was a bit cold; it was hot outside, so that was fine. He didn’t take long. He turned off the water, shook the excess from his hair – which drooped, but kept its bristly appearance – and started to towel down.
            It was difficult to sneak up on him. He was suspicious all the time because of his outrageous dad, but he let his guard down in the school’s shower.
            He had just walked out of the shower when there came a bubbly “Hi~♥”
            He nearly jumped a foot in the air, behaving like a spooked cat as he turned wide-eyed to the one who had snuck up on him. “Wha-What the hell?!” The towel covered himself smartly, him putting on a scowl deeper than usual. “What the hell are you doing here?”
            “Oh, you know~” swooned Keigo, swishing this way and that, seeming jovial though all life seemed to be gone from his eyes. “I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you weren’t up to anything indecent.”
            “I was in the shower!” snarled Ichigo, storming past him to hurry and get his clothes.
            Keigo gave chase like an inchworm. “Well, you’re getting so chummy with the sexy, provocative, new girls…”
            Ichigo groaned at the unnecessary description. Keigo’s jealousy was so taxing.
            “… I wanted to make sure your purity wasn’t at stake.”
            “Tch. What do you expect to happen in the locker room after school?”
            “Are you serious?!” screeched Keigo like a banshee, now on his feet and looming with an intense aura. “Do you even look at the doujins I lend you?!”
            Ichigo flushed, looking behind him and hoping that no one was in earshot. “Sh-Shut up! I never even ask for them!”
            But Keigo went on uninterrupted. “Afterschool is a paradise for schoolgirls looking for naughty extracurricular activities! And Gigi-chan and Bambi-chan are both giving off those pheromones! Argh!” He recoiled like he was having the worst migraine in history. “Dammit! Dammit, Kami-sama! Why do you waste precarious love situations on dummies like Ichigo?!”
            “Could you stop?” griped Ichigo, letting Keigo throw his tantrum as he dressed, but still not wanting attention drawn here. “There’s nothing like pheromones going on.” He pulled on his shirt, closed his locker, and gave Keigo a sideways look. “You’re just an idiot that no one would want to study with.”
            Keigo was taken aback by this brutal assessment. “You-You”—He collected his nerve into a single shriek—“You nerd!” He pointed a shaky finger. “Are you saying all these busty babes and flighty females are attracted to your ‘nerd’ powers?! Just because you started bringing your grades up?!” He leaned in with a scandalous look, his fingers wiggling in an unpleasant way. “Maybe I’ll mention that you were letting your grades slip for a while~”
            “Go ahead,” said Ichigo dismissively to this harmless threat. He threw his bag over his shoulder. “I doubt they’ll care.”
            Dammit, he was right! Keigo didn’t want to admit it, but he was. Somehow, whatever faults he had, Ichigo always kept a strong connection with women, like Arisawa and Inoue-chan, Rukia-chan and the delicious Matsumoto Rangiku-sama (as he wanted to be her slave). With a defeated moan, Keigo also collected his things and trailed Ichigo.
            The thing about Keigo was he didn’t hold a grudge; Ichigo appreciated that about him, even if he was obnoxious and loud most times. In a matter of moments, Keigo was already making suggestions for activities. “Now that you’re off practice”—Though the sounds of the soccer team still playing vigorously were heard across the campus—“how about we head to the arcade like you promised?”
            “I didn’t promise that,” Ichigo said, looking back at him doubtingly.
            Keigo snorted and gave his best impersonation of Ichigo’s aloof scowl. “Jeez, we used to hang out all the time after school, but ever since you got your jobs…”
            “You should get one too,” Ichigo suggested, looking forward. “You can’t just keep slacking off.”
            Keigo answered with something to the effect of “We still have time”, which Ichigo turned around on him with “You’re the one who was all interested in it a while back.” Afterward, with no plans made aside from Ichigo’s plans to do schoolwork at home, he parted company with Keigo, who headed home with the prospect of figuring out what style would best appeal to Bambi-chan’s and Gigi-chan’s nature. “A man with a beautiful girl has already succeeded in life,” he proverbed with a thumbs-up and a parting wave.
            Ichigo worried for him…
            But it was nice to have peace and quiet. He hadn’t deliberated long on Giswel and Bumbita, not like Keigo’s current obsession. But Tatsuki’s warning was sound to him: There might have been something off. But he wasn’t going to try to figure it out. He just wanted to get home, go through his homework, eat, and maybe peek at one of the doujins Keigo had thrust unwarrantedly upon him.
            Yuzu was informed about his contract with soccer, so she shouldn’t be concerned about him turning up late. Then again, when Ikumi-san would abduct him for work, he’d show up at all odd hours; worse, when Yuzu tried to interfere and request Ikumi have a set schedule, Ikumi-san mothered her with a gentle hand and placated her, excusing all her irrational behavior as a result of Ichigo’s irresponsibility. It was his fault that he turned up late, and the blushing Yuzu accepted that.
            Ichigo was thankful for this reprieve from the Unagiya. He couldn’t even quit because Ikumi-san wouldn’t let him.
            He looked up the road to his house… and blinked.
            No way.
            “There he is~” The hand waved excitedly overhead while the other held a basket filled-to-bursting with bread. “Ku~ro~sa~ki~ I~chi~go~♥”
            Thank goodness Keigo wasn’t there, or it’d start the whole argument in cycle again.
            Giselle and Bambietta were standing right outside the Kurosaki clinic, the latter leaning against the wall with her arms folded. Giselle was standing right in the middle of the road and making a spectacle of herself. “Over here, Ichi-chan! We’ve been waiting for you!”
            Ichigo’s arms dropped. Just what was he seeing? When he finally approached, he pointed a finger back and forth between the two girls. “Wha-What are you doing here? How did you know…?”
            “Your name’s on the building,” said Bambietta with a thumb pointing up to the sign.
            Ichigo flushed at the obvious, but followed up for clarity, “But how did you know… it’s here?” How did they know it was in this vicinity?!
            “We just took a tour of the neighborhoods, and saw this.” Giselle giggled. “Remember, we were hoping you’d study us. I told you we’d see you later, didn’t I? And look!” She held up the basket that was very familiar to Ichigo. “We brought snacks!”
            Ichigo didn’t know what to say. What he wanted to say to them was to leave him alone, but that came off as too harsh. Maybe he was just tired and hungry. And he shouldn’t be rude to girls who were new at school. It was easier to invite Orihime in, but he’d put up with it for tonight. “Alright, come in,” he sighed defeatedly, holding the front gate open for them.
            “Yay~!” cheered Giselle, though in passing, she made a strange comment to Ichigo: “Your dad’s not here, right?” But she had moved along so quickly that Ichigo didn’t really have time to think about it. Why would she ask that? And how would she know about his dad? Wouldn’t the more general question be ‘Are your parents home?’
            He didn’t have time to follow up when Bambietta strode by, because she didn’t stride by. She stopped right in front of him, looking indignantly at his face before stretching her gaze down his whole body in a way that made him feel tense. When she came back up to his face—“You alright?” he asked nervously—she gave the first smile he’d seen on her face. “Not so bad,” she confirmed. And then she walked by him and waited with Giselle at the door for him to open up.
            This was a mistake. A huge mistake. The thought kept running in his mind as he belabored the process of unlocking the door. He felt trapped as the two girls backed him, each with a certain kind of smile on their face, neither putting him at ease.
            click…
            He opened the door slowly and walked in. “I’m home,” he called out, kicking off his shoes while Giselle and Bambietta filed in behind him.
            “And we’ve brought bread!” Giselle declared, holding up the basket. Ichigo turned quickly to her, frightened by how suddenly she acted at home.
            Sure enough, the sound of a girl’s voice brought Yuzu running in from the kitchen. And of course, she was taken aback to see her brother standing between two girls! However put off he looked, Yuzu immediately put him in the crosshairs of a scandal. “O-Onii-chan, who are…?” The ladle in her hand went dumbly to Giselle and then Bambietta. “I-I thought it was Orihime-chan…” Orihime, after all, showed up more and more frequently with piles of bread for the family.
            “Aww~ how cute~” fussed Giselle, prancing forward, her socks making satisfyingly soft thuds on the floorboards. She rubbed the dazed girl’s head briefly before shoving the bread basket into Yuzu’s open chest; Yuzu barely had time to catch it. “Here you go! Be sure to share it with the family, cutie~♥”
            What was up with this girl? Ichigo had no choice but to follow when Giselle was already climbing the stairs in search of his room. “I’ll explain later,” he promised his flummoxed sister, and then shouted out to Giselle to hold back!
            Bambietta’s stride was elegant, but she hesitated when passing Yuzu. She looked directly at her and the pointing ladle with an irritated twitch. “It’s rude to point, brat.” And then she went after Ichigo up the stairs.
            Yuzu looked back at her. Her bottom lips began to tremble. B-Brat?! She squeezed the basket, causing some of the bread loaves to fall. “Onii-chan, you dummy!” Why did he have to bring such a disagreeable pair here?! And it hadn’t escaped Yuzu’s notice, that Bambietta’s shirt was undone enough to show off the mounds that seemingly popped one after the other with each step! “You pervert!” she doubled up.
            Up the stairs, Ichigo was feeling his face redden and his anxiety growing. Aside from what Yuzu was shouting at him while company was over, it was hard to wrangle in Giselle when she was looking across the hallway, peering around like it was some spread-out canyon scenery. And Bambietta, behind him or beside him or in front of him, triggered a wary feeling like a beautiful, venomous spider skittering a bit too closely for it not to be intentional.
            “My room’s here,” Ichigo said to Giselle, opening the door with the obvious 15 sign hanging at the front. “Come in and… try to calm down.”
            “Fifteen,” said Giselle as she looked up close to the numbers. She pointed at it and asked, “Does that mean you’re fifteen forever?”
            Ichigo’s eye ticked. “Are you doing that on purpose?” he grumbled, suspecting that she was playing dumb to get him all riled up.
            Bambietta came in from behind, roughly shoving Giselle inward and saying, “Let’s just get this over with!”
            Giselle turned her stumbling into a spin of excitement, once again ‘aww-ing’ at the room, spreading out her arms. “So this is Kurosaki Ichigo’s room! It’s not like what I thought! Oh?! You play guitar? How cute!”
            “Hey, don’t go grabbing my things!” Ichigo hurried to where Giselle was futzing with the strings. Bambietta took the opportunity of his distraction to close the door he had intentionally left partway open. She locked it for good measure.
            The door wasn’t of any concern to Ichigo, now that he’d gotten Giselle to back off from his instrument – he wouldn’t say why it was in his room or if he played it – but he stayed close to her. There were still plenty of things for her to mess up if he let her on her own. Luckily, she seemed satisfied and plopped down on the bed, even before he offered her a seat. When Bambietta did the same, he figured it was fine and pulled out his desk’s chair and turned it on them. He sat down and waited.
            They didn’t say anything, though Giselle hummed a bit, kicking her feet out like she had in class.
            So Ichigo started, and he wasn’t going to beat around the bush. “What do you want with me?”
            “Huh? What kind of question is that?” Giselle giggled, sitting pertly now, legs drawn in and upper body leaning forward. “I told you we want you to tutor us~”
            “I’m not dumb,” he said, and suppressed the angry reaction when Giselle and Bambietta smiled at one another. “You did fine in class with all the subjects. Are you exchange students from some private school?”
            “Whoa, how suspicious,” said Giselle, holding up her hands and looking apprehensive. “We’re just new here. We thought it’d be nice to make friends with you.”
            Ichigo’s head cocked slightly, not seeming in the least bit satisfied with the answer. And just his glower alone started to crack Giselle. “You guys went straight for me in class.”
            “It was the window seat and in the back of class. You looked so comfortable, so I took the seat next to you~” Giselle was looking away now, seeming to force her smile. “M-Maybe I was attracted to your weird hair. How’d you get it so bright?”
            Ichigo just continued to frown. A poor actor, but without force unbecoming of him, he was unlikely to pry any real information from her. And a glance at Bambietta, he could at least tell he’d get less than nothing from her; she welcomed conflict.
            Still, it would then be best to play along, just to see how they advanced. Otherwise, they’d just be in this standstill of prolonged silence and lies until the evening hours were used up. He had homework and was determined not to fall behind again. “Okay then,” he said in moderate resignation. He swiveled his chair back to the desk. No need for the lamplight; the setting sun had a healthy red glow going in the room for a while longer. He went into his bag – which he had flung to the floor at his desk when rushing to stop Giselle’s string plucking – and pulled out his notebook. “What exactly do you need me to tutor you on?”
            “This bed!” fawned Giselle suddenly, swooning as she fell back and let her loose body rock. Ichigo flinched, and then realized she must not have heard him. Already, he was doubting that even if he tried to help them study, he wouldn’t get much done. Giselle was much interested in feeling his comforter and snuggling his pillow in a way that made him blush. “You must sleep like a baby on it!”
            Bambietta rolled her eyes in disgust at Giselle’s hammed-up acting.
            “H-Hey, don’t hold my pillow like that!” More of an urgent request than a restriction; Ichigo didn’t want to think of how it’d be to fall asleep on a pillow covered in her perfume. She wore a lot of it…
            But when she obeyed his command – or just got bored with it – she sprawled on her back again, and Ichigo noticed how her legs were separated and her skirt rode up her thin thighs. He swallowed and did not lean back, or he’d get a better view up her skirt.
            Giselle looked in bliss, yet when she laid a hand across her forehead, she whined, “But it’s so hot in here too~” She pulled at the collar of her blouse.
            What was going on?! Ichigo was having flashbacks of Rangiku-san trying to convince him to let her stay in this room! Hopefully these two had a home themselves and weren’t looking for lodging!
            Giselle turned over suddenly, getting on her hands and knees; Ichigo gave a start as her backside was presented to him, but realized she was just going to open the window. It slid open, and she thrust her chest out to the fresh air with a rapturous moan that put dirty thoughts in Ichigo’s head. “That feels nice~” she cooed, and remained prostrated to the evening while Ichigo’s hormones began to hound him.
            “So what?” began Bambietta with her predatory grin. She shifted toward Ichigo and lifted her black sock on the bed. There was never a more deliberate attempt to get him to look at a pair of panties; even Rangiku-san would have been impressed by the boldness, though she would probably give her thoughts on the tactless process. “Do you just lock yourself away in your room and look at papers when you have two girls over?”
            “What?!” exclaimed Ichigo, his nostrils tickling like he was expecting a nosebleed. He fought against temptation! He’d held on this long since puberty started! No way would he give in now because two sexy, provocative new girls in his bedroom!
ccc The arcade ccc
            Keigo sneezed onto the game’s screen, sniffled, and then thought slyly that Bambi-chan and Gigi-chan were probably talking about the suave stud they were too shy to talk to today.
ccc Ichigo’s bedroom ccc
            “Ha! Bambi-chan~ how scandalous~” Giselle laughed, delighted, now reclined with her elbows over the windowsill as she watched Bambietta’s attempt to seduce Ichigo. Giselle was more playful, but Bambietta always got her man when she wanted to.
            Bambietta ignored Giselle’s gibes, giving a haughty smirk to Ichigo. “I guess I should ask you now,” she said lowly, a finger crooking into the plunge of her cleavage, ridding her shirt of another fixed button to show off the blue lace of her bra, “what are you in the mood to study—?”
            “RWAHHH~!!! ICHIGO!!!”
            Locked or not, that door burst open when a fuming Kurosaki Isshin had heard the news downstairs. He’d just gotten home from a trip to the hospital to barter/steal supplies from the Ishida closet, and right when he had walked in through the door with a perfect pilfering – which he fully intended to celebrate with his kids – Yuzu rushed him with sobs. “She called me ‘brat’!” And Yuzu crying came before Ichigo becoming a man two times over! “Don’t worry, Yuzu! Your father will wrestle a beautiful, busty girl for your honor!”
            “No one said anything about her chest size,” said Karin channel-surfing from the chouch.
            And so, Isshin laid the siege on Ichigo’s bedroom, knocking the door from its hinges to slam across the room. Immediately, Ichigo saw the guitar he’d tried to protect from Giselle smash on the floor, the neck hanging broken by the still-attached strings.
            As if he was the hero arriving at the eleventh hour, Isshin planted his feet in the middle of the room and gave a mighty grunt, his nostrils flaring wide. “What’s this I hear about someone calling my darling Yuzu a brat? Ichigo! As the older brother, it is your duty to list off the innumerable ways Yuzu is anything but a brat!”
            “You old geezer!” Ichigo exclaimed, jumping to his feet, not knowing what to be more upset about: the door, the guitar, or the disregard of his privacy and common decency! But just as he was about to really lay into Isshin, he realized… that he and Isshin were the only ones in the room. He looked to his right to doublecheck, and sure enough, there was no one there; only rumpled evidence that someone had been sitting and someone had been crawling across his sheets.
            But it was Isshin who looked around and made the observation first. “Hm?! There’s no one here.”
            But there certainly had been, Ichigo told himself, looking suspiciously out the window.
ccc Karakura Town streets ccc
            “Jeez, what unfortunate timing,” whined Gigi, clasping her hands behind her head, taking high, swinging steps and looking to the darkening sky. “I was really looking forward to seeing how he did it.”
            “There’s always tomorrow,” Bambi said. She scowled down at her feet and pulled a pebble from her heel. “I thought that damn father of his was going to be gone all day!” Even with her Hirenkyaku, she fumbled at the doorstep and stepped on the ground with her socks before she could reach through the front door to whisk back her shoes; Gigi was told to grab hers herself, which made her sulk and say Bambi was so cranky when she couldn’t get laid.
            “Bambi-chan’s so stupid,” laughed Gigi. “She doesn’t do anything all the way unless it’s with a guy~! Goomph!!”
            Fed up with her provocations, Bambi swung her fist across the back of Gigi’s head. The smaller girl landed flat on her face in the road. Sputtering, covering her bloody features with a hand, she rolled onto her back, letting her skirt hike up over her dark panties. “B-Bambi-chan,” she slurred, her eyes lighting up with passion. “You’re so cute when you’re violent!”
            “Save it,” Bambi barked down at her in passing. “Let’s just get back and wait for…”
            “Are you having trouble, Bambietta-san?”
            She stopped mid-step. The angry chill ran over her, but she had to refuse the urge to kill. Instead, she righted herself and turned her head with an indignant glance up to the house perimeter wall next to them. Standing elegantly on a lamp, his white uniform and partial mask glowing in the light, Asguiaro Ebern was looking down from his perch.
            “I thought your mission was to make contact with Kurosaki Ichigo and begin the process of recruitment. You seem to be playing house instead.”
            Bambi turned fully to him and placed a hand on her hip. “What are you doing here? And why are you talking to a Sternritter like that?”
            Ebern threw his hands out in grandiose fashion before taking a bow, smirking pompously. “His Majesty has named me as the surveyor of Karakura and Kurosaki Ichigo. I make no move until told to by Him or Haschwalth. I couldn’t help noticing you chumming up with Kurosaki, but making no moves.”
            “That’s not true,” sang Gigi, her bloodied face already healed. “She laid it on pretty thick with Ichi-chan, but he’s pretty stupid!”
            “You leave me to my mission,” Bambi said, ignoring Gigi’s chiding. “And stay out of my way”—Her eyes darkened—“or you’ll regret it.”
            “How frightening,” Ebern said sarcastically, though there was unmistakable wariness in his demeanor. He straightened his back, leaning his head to one side to exaggerate looking down on her. “I’ve actually come here for more than just a report.” From behind his back, he produced a pair of handcuffs. “A gift from Opie. He expects you to put them to good use.” He tossed them to her, but Bambi made no effort to catch them; Gigi crawled over on her belly to collect them, gazing stupidly at them as a cat eyes a dangling string. Simple handcuffs, but for the inscribed J on either cuff.
            “In case Kurosaki does not come along quietly,” Ebern answered the unasked question. He rotated and prepared to jump. “Bye,” and he was off, leaping toward the moon but disappearing in a black mist that quickly evaporated without a trace.
            “What an annoying guy,” said Gigi with a bit of a laugh. “He thinks he’s on the same level as us just because His Majesty granted him the powers of a Quincy. But he’ll be dead soon~♪” The Sternritter knew how His Majesty disregarded the impure.
            Bambi didn’t stop to think about him and just continued onward. Never mind that Arrancar freak, she was more concerned that Quincy could just come over to Karakura on a whim. “Let’s just go to bed.”
            “Really?! Oh, Bambi-chan!”
            “Not like that! Get off me!”
            “Oomph!”
ccc Next day; room 3-3 ccc
            “Huh~? Change seats?” Ochi-sensei was concerned by this early request by Ichigo. First he’d asked to be assigned to a seat near the window. Now he wanted to sit on the other side of the class, nearest to the door? “What’s wrong with where you are now? You’ve been doing a lot better these days! The sunlight must be improving your concentration!”
            Ichigo liked, or at least respected Ochi-sensei too much to outright disagree with her. He couldn’t bring up what brought about his awkwardness around the new girls, as talking about bringing them home and into his room was highly improper and would put him on the radar again as some sort of delinquent. “I-I think it might be Giselle’s perfume?” he said awkwardly, thinking the excuse was lame.
            And it was lame; lame enough for Ochi-sensei to dismiss the request and give him a soft but berating tap on the head with her papers. “Nonsense! Gigi-chan’s perfume is just fine! You’ll get used to it, I’m sure! Come ask me in a week if your feelings haven’t changed! For right now”—She involved the whole class—“let’s all get ready to learn!”
            Ichigo sulked back to his seat in defeat, sitting and hunching over his desk in a guarded sort of way. Somehow, Bambietta seemed even more bored than yesterday, already staring outside and ignoring him completely like she hadn’t intentionally shown him her underwear.
            Giselle, on the other hand…
            “You’re so mean, Ichi-chan,” she mock-wept. “You don’t want to sit next to me, and I wanted us to take care of each other. Like friends.”
            “Friends don’t stalk each other home,” Ichigo grumbled softly out of the corner of his mouth to not interrupt Ochi-sensei’s begun lesson.
            Giselle laughed. “Don’t be like that~ What boy doesn’t fantasize about having two girls alone in his room?”
            Me, he wanted to say, though he had Tatsuki and Orihime over together from time to time. Nothing like that! Just three friends doing schoolwork or playing videogames.
            He could swear he saw Keigo’s ear twitch.
            “Keep it down,” he murmured lower to Giselle, more afraid of Keigo hearing than Ochi-sensei.
            “Alright.” Giselle hunched over her desk, copying him with an annoying smile. “But how about we meet again after school? We didn’t get to do any tutoring yesterday.”
            To this mention, his face tightened a little, his eyes darting over to her. “You got out of there pretty quick,” he said accusingly.
            Giselle’s eye flashed back at him. After a silence, her smile stretched and she said, “Bambi-chan’s so clumsy~ She pushed me out the window and fell after me when your dad showed up.”
            Liar.
            But Bambietta had turned from the window to call her a bitch.
            No matter. Giselle was still eyeing Ichigo as she sang softly, “After school~♪”
ccc After school, soccer practice ccc
            “Have you ever thought about dating? It could really upset Keigo,” Mizuiro suggested with no small amount of delight. He had caught Ichigo on his way to the field to change out for practice; a rare interaction for them in school now that they were in separate classes.
            Ichigo tried to mask his embarrassment with indignant reproach. “Not really. And I wouldn’t date someone just for something like that. That’s more likely something you would do.”
            “Ha-ha! You’re right,” agreed the shorter boy, obvious in his humor. It wouldn’t surprise Ichigo if the girl he was seeing now was one whom Keigo had shown an interest in; not someone loved, but certainly someone Keigo was obsessing over yet would not approach.
            “Someday, he’ll learn his lesson,” Mizuiro said with fondness that he’ never actually use around Keigo. Ichigo maintained his aloofness, but agreed all the same. Luckily, Keigo had to get home quick on his sister’s orders; she wanted a meal after her college classes, and he needed to get on it. After yesterday’s experience with the new girls, he could do with less excitement today.
            Mizuiro split from him, though he made a joke that he couldn’t be a cheering section for Ichigo anyway. “Who cheers at a practice?” said Ichigo with an eyeroll. He entered the lockers, dressed out, and walked onto the field where the team was already congregating, socializing and pumping up for a hardy practice. They did their workouts, and Ichigo did his. He stretched, went in deep crouches, pulled his feet, and got nice and limber. At one point, someone shouted out at him, “Don’t slack off!”, and it turned out to be Tatsuki, grinning brightly at him from across the field on her way off campus. He gave her a frown that she seemed to revel in, knowing that he did not like to be assumed to be lazy – all evidence to the contrary concerning his job at Unagiya – but he gave a softer look to Orihime, walking with Tatsuki and smiling brightly over at him, waving and cheering, “Do your best, Kurosaki-kun~” It embarrassed him and already got some of the team speculating, which added a second shade of red on the blush Orihime had stirred on his grouchy face. She shouldn’t be so loud, he thought when he heard the murmurs behind him: “That’s our goalie for you. Even Inoue-senpai has faith in him! Lucky!”
            So the practice began earnestly, going through the paces of a building warmup; sprints across the field to get the heart pumping, casual ball-handling, zigzagging and all that. Ichigo’s contract was to be goalie, but he freely extended his repertoire for their benefit. Soccer wasn’t a skill of his, but being athletic, focused, and light on his feet made him take to it easily. Well, watching his feet was different than handling a sword, but not by much.
            Then came the goal kicks. Ichigo took up in front of the goal net and stared down the line of anxious players. They had nerve, but Ichigo was far from impressed. This hardly registered, even as the team captain launched the first ball with his trademark move dedicated to the might of the Dragon Bazooka. Letting anything by him that was named for Tatsuki would have been an insult; he blocked the ball with a vengeance, which put the team and even the captain in awe, though the captain did show a bit of disappointment that his best kick was so easily caught.
            The line started to filter, and it was quickly obvious that Ichigo was going to leave without getting a workout. It almost became personal to the team. As if facing an enemy in a war, the captain shouted, “Bring out more balls!” And before Ichigo knew it, several balls were being kicked at him at once and in rapid succession. It’d be an insult to be bested just by this, and though he didn’t mean to show off, he quickly showed off. He grabbed balls midair and pitch them to intercept another while kicking a foot out to deflect a third. If they were awed before, they were flabbergasted now, some losing the will to even kick a ball just to watch the artistry of the orange-haired supposed-delinquent of Karakura.
            He was on his way to a perfect guard when someone cheered out to him from beyond the field: “Go, Kurosaki~ Handle those balls~♥”
            He froze up, instinctively glancing in the direction, and then was pelted in the head by a ball. The goal flooded with balls then before Ichigo could regain his thoughts.
            Giselle was to the left of the field, cupping a hand to her mouth to augment her shouts and pumping vigorously in the air with a jumping motion. As always, opposite to Giselle’s cheerfulness, Bambietta looked like she’d prefer to be anywhere else, her eyes on him and her arms crossed in a way that made other boys ogle and entertain fantasies of being her dog.
            “You can do it~ Don’t let a single one by~”
            Ichigo bristled, realizing his mistake. Damn you!
            “K-Kurosaki-san…” The captain approached, forcefully not looking outside the field, ignoring the cheers and catcalls for Ichigo and coughing awkwardly. “Um… You-You shouldn’t have a cheering squad at practice.”
            “What?!” Ichigo flung his hand at the pair.
            Giselle swooned and shouted, “Look, he noticed me!”
            “I didn’t bring them here! They keep following me around for some reason!”
            But the captain seemed unconvinced and just asked that it not happen again.
            Ichigo’s felt his ears burn while Giselle leapt up and down like a cheerleader.
ccc After practice ccc
            No sign of them, thankfully.
            When had they gone, Ichigo didn’t know. He had tried to keep his sights on them, but the shouts from Giselle and the suspicions of the team were getting to be too much, so he blocked it out, turning it to white noise, though he couldn’t help overhearing a conversation: “So he’s two-timing Inoue-senpai?” “I thought he was going out with Arisawa-senpai!” “Jeez, he’s really popular. I should dye my hair too!”
            Stupid rumors…
            Ichigo was glad that the time for practice was up. As before, the team stayed in a throng, giving thanks to the goalie for his time and effort, some going quickly into the suspicions about his relationship with the new girls Gigi-chan and Bambi-chan, which bled into conversational debates about who the hotter one was. Undeniably Bambi-chan! But Gigi-chan had the personality of someone who was good to be around, the type of girlfriend to be flashy on all occasions. “That might be a bit overbearing,” said one, but the other contended with a lewd blush, “But it’s best for when you’re alone.”
            Ichigo wanted to get away from that as soon as possible. He’d take the backways home, he decided. Now that they knew where he lived, there was now the probability that they’d be waiting for him again or might already have been invited in by Yuzu! Hopefully she would still be in shock from yesterday and refuse them. Still, Ichigo lamented the probability that he’d get home and walking unassumingly into his room only to find Giselle and Bambietta going through his personal belongings!
            His face turned angry and annoyed as he began to undress for his shower. “It probably will turn out like that,” he complained, thinking of all the times his privacy had been trespassed by all kinds of women: Rukia, Yoruichi-san, Rangiku-san! After over a year of peace – and powerlessness – he was due for a surprise visit.
            “I’ll just kick them out,” he confirmed and began to rinse. He wanted to be extra quick, lest the talk of the team follow him in here, and he’d have to listen to them all comparing girls, two of whom were very close friends of his.
            He rinsed, toweled off, and was fully dressed when the ambush happened. “Hi, Ichi-chan~♥”
            He’d just gotten his shirt over his head when Giselle popped up out of nowhere, in very tight proximity to him. A few inches, and she’d be pressing her face into his abs, though she seemed very unthreatening with her legs poised several feet away, her hands linked behind her waist, her upper body inclining toward him.
            “G-Giselle?!” he cried out, impulsively taking a step back to find the other girl behind him. Before he could stumble into her, she shoved him and told him to watch out. So he pivoted, throwing his back against the lockers so that no one – if there was anyone else – could get behind him again. “What are you two doing in here?! Th-This is the boys’ locker room!” As if the sign at the front wasn’t obvious.
            “What a lame reaction,” Giselle laughed to Bambietta. “The Datan was right about him, huh?”
            “Yeah.” Bambietta put her hands upon her hips and gave that frightening, elated smirk of hers, a predator out for blood. “A stupid weakness to a beautiful woman!”
            “Women,” corrected Giselle, who then looked back to Ichigo, eyeing him up and down. “Well, what should we do about him now? This is the part where the guy takes advantage of the girls who strayed into the locker room, right?”
            “What are you…?” Ichigo cut off his own obvious question with a growl. Thank goodness old habits died hard, he thought, contemplating the item in his back pocket. “You two… You’re not just two regular girls, are you?”
            “I wonder~♪” sang Giselle innocently, swaying this way and that while pulling at her hair.
            “Enough talking.” Bambietta snatched Ichigo’s shirtfront and threw him to the floor; her strength certainly wasn’t that of a normal girl, though Ichigo was caught off guard. He fell on his backside outside the row of lockers.
            Snarling, he looked up. He was pretty sure he was right to assume that they weren’t simple schoolgirls. And if that was the case… If they wanted a fight, so be it. He reached in his pocket for his badge. Take care of them quick and get answers…!
            “You won’t need that,” said Bambietta, locking her body up behind him on the floor, her foot linking around his arm so that her foot could stomp the badge out of his grip and knock it away.
            Ichigo swore at her. “What are you doing?!”
            “Aww~♥ Isn’t it obvious?”
            He looked forward and saw Giselle prowling forward on her hands and knees between his opened legs. She descended partway, and Ichigo’s face didn’t know whether to redden or blanch.
            “We wanted some tutoring,” Giselle said playfully.
            “T-Tutoring?” repeated Ichigo, and then raised his voice. “This isn’t tutoring!”
            Again, Giselle made a mocking groan, never losing her smile. Her eyes went back to him. “Are you stupid~♥ Tutoring… means fucking.”
            His face chose red.
            The zipper of his pants was ruthlessly yanked down, and looking up mischievously, Giselle incredulously asked, “Haven’t you ever read a doujin?”
ccc
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The Bell Rung