Bleach ficlet - Steady (Gen, Tatsuki and Ichigo)
Type: Fanfiction
Series: Bleach
Title: Steady
Author: Ore
Genre: Gen - with Tatsuki and Ichigo!
Disclaimer: Belongs to Kubo Tite.
Notes: It was mostly about fighting. And, you know, maybe a little about friendship.
~
“You - win!” Ichigo managed in ragged breaths.
“Yes!” Tatsuki leaped up from her kneeling position on Ichigo’s chest and threw her arms in the air. “The 422nd fight of Kurosaki Ichigo vs. the fabulous Arisawa Tatsuki ends in the 422nd victory for Arisawa!”
Ichigo sat up, flexing his right hand gently before rubbing at his bruised knuckles. “Your count’s off by five.”
“Hmm . . . 427th doesn’t sound right.”
“417th time! 417th!”
She reached down and their dirty and battered hands locked together as she pulled him to his feet. “You’re not going to beat me any faster by lowering the number.”
“I’m not lowering it. It’s 417.”
“You lie.”
“I don’t!”
Tatsuki crossed her arms, stuck her chin out. “Ha, prove it!”
She was ready when he flung himself at her.
After the 418th -- or 423rd as she would have it -- fight and victory in her name, they spread out in the torn grass underneath the hot sun, panting and taking the opportunity to poke at each other ever once in a while.
“So hot,” Tatsuki managed to mumble eventually.
“Mm,” Ichigo agreed wordlessly, stretching his hands upwards to block the sun. “We used to go to the beach on days like this - we’d get ice cream.”
“Oh.” That look only came into his eyes when he was thinking of one person and it disturbed her, because she could never understand it. That isolation.
Neither of them spoke again until Tatsuki stuck her hand into the pocket of her torn and filthy pants (why can’t you be a lady, her mother always said with a sigh) and found part of her allowance still there.
“Hey,” she said, climbing to her feet.
“What?”
“C’mon!” and she helped him up for the second time, “I know an ice cream place around here.”
She was only twelve and there was no beach and she would probably never understand that dark part of Ichigo, but she did know what friends were for.
~
“Ah, Tatsuki, you’re bleeding.” Ichigo said, his finger wavering as if not sure which wound to point at.
She examined the long scrape down on her left elbow and picked at the pebbles studded along it, giving him a quick look. “I‘m not the only one.”
Ichigo swiped carelessly at a bleeding scratch on his cheek. “That was a dumb idea,” he said, shooting a glance up at the embankment they had tumbled down.
“You think?” Rising to her feet unsteadily, Tatsuki frowned down at her bloody knees and figured she was in for another talking with her mother. Perhaps on the subject of ‘you should stop fighting with that nice Kurosaki boy.’ “It was your idea.”
“I didn‘t ask you to come.” He followed her lead and stood, managing to grump, “The branch wasn’t supposed to break.”
“It did.”
“I broke your fall.” He paused and she saw him staring at her empty hands. “Did you get it in?”
“With your elbow, sheesh. - and what are you thinking? Of course it’s in. One baby bird safely home.”
“Good.” Ichigo was poking at the newly made holes in his pants and caught Tatsuki’s eye. “I don’t think I have enough bandages for the both of us. We have to go home.”
Home meant the Kurosaki Clinic and Tatsuki was not going to grimace. At all. “Your dad’s going to think I beat you up. Again.”
Ichigo sighed. “More survival lessons.”
“Ah, well, can’t be helped.”
“Let’s go. And remember to duck when you enter.”
“As usual.”
~
Sweat dripped down Tatsuki’s forehead and she wiped it away with a careless swipe of the back of her hand. “One more time, Ichi- Kurosaki-san.”
“I‘m finished,” he said, bowing to her.
“I said one more time.”
“I said no, Arisawa-san.” She almost had him, she thought, from the way his eyebrows scrunched together more normally and the tic at his left eye. But no, he turned on his heel and quietly held a quick coversation with Sensei -- who almost raised his voice, but then who settled back and gave a curt nod at him. Ichigo started walking away amidst raised eyebrows and loud congratulations. He bowed at the entrance of the training room and left.
“Tomorrow!” she called after him.
Sensei frowned after him and did not meet her gaze when she attempted to catch his eye.
~
She found Ichigo at the video arcade the next day and as she watched him press buttons and jerk at the controller she wondered if she should just kick his ass. Tired and more than disgruntled, she stalked up behind him and swung her backpack right into the small of his back, sending him slamming into the machine with a loud ‘Oomph’ and groan.
“Where were you today?” she demanded.
“What the hell?” Ichigo managed to turn himself around to face her. “T-tatsuki?”
“You weren’t at karate today and then I asked Sensei and he said that you had quit.”
“Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
He rubbed at his back and grimaced. “Seriously.”
“You’re an idiot!” And because eyes were turning to stare at them, she grabbed him by the collar of his school jacket and dragged him onto the sidewalk where people would not have an excuse to lurk and watch them, but realzing that even that probably would not stop them, so she shoved him into a nearby alleyway.
“Careful!” Ichigo whirled around, straightening his clothes. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I should be asking you that question.” She imagined that the whole situation might be more pleasant with her fist planted in his face. Really.
“What?”
“What? You can’t quit like that. We have to have a rematch.”
“I won, Tatsuki.”
“Once. You can’t quit after one time -”
“I only needed once.” He watched her. Never blinked. Damn that look of his.
“Ah, you’re pissing me off!” Tatsuki sighed, glanced back at him and smacked her palm against her forehead. “Fine!”
His eyebrows raised a bit. “That easy?”
“Only because I‘m a kind and generous person. And my goodwill is on a time limit.” Her book bag on her shoulder once more, she considered one last elbow in the stomach for him and then decided not. Today something had changed in their regular pattern and it wasn’t that she would no longer see him at karate. Until that straightened itself out, she figured, she could for a bit. Wouldn’t take long, anyways. “You’re a punk for quitting. A punk. But I guess we can get something to eat together.”
“Hey! . . . I hope you brought your own money, because ’m not going to pay for you again.”
“Yeah, yeah. This time it‘s on me.”
~
"I've beaten Arisawa Tatsuki! You're all pathetic compared to her."
The statement and familiar voice caused Tatsuki to turn off the road and walk down the embankment towards an ongoing fight. And yes, there was Ichigo going up against seven idiots.
“Hey! You’re still using that?” Tatsuki sent one of Ichigo’s opponents on an abrupt swimming lesson in the river.
Ichigo took out some long-faced goon with his knee to the goon’s chin. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Nice way to thank a friend for coming to help.”
“I was doing fine on my own if you hadn’t noticed.”
“So you wanted me to walk by?”
“Of course not, I-” and they both noticed the goons had stopped coming. Ichigo looked disgruntled and barked at the wide-eye faces, “What’s wrong with you? Just going to let it end like this?”
“Yeah! I’m not even breathing hard - you have to do more than that to warm up the Great -”
“A-arisawa Tatsuki!” one of them yelped and then they fled.
“Huh,” Ichigo said.
Tatsuki watched as the last goon disappeared. “Where have I run into them before?”
Ichigo shrugged. “They didn’t believe me when I said I beat you.”
“Once!”
“Once is enough.”
“I can’t believe you still use that. It was over a year ago!”
“I know.”
Tatsuki elbowed him. “If you’d let me fight one more time -”
“Oomph!” Ichigo stepped away, but not before aiming a punch at her shoulder. “No more!”
She rubbed her shoulder. “Whatever.”
“Sure been awhile since we fought together,” Ichigo said. “Where’s that one girl you hang out with?”
“Arts and Crafts Club. . . . It wasn’t even a real fight, what a disappointment.” She stooped down and picked up a pebble, tossing it up and down. “Sado-kun?”
“Chad’s at band practice.”
“Ah.”
He caught the pebble as it was traveling up and she glared at him. “Been awhile,” he said nonchalantly.
“The two of us? Maybe.”
Ichigo flicked the pebble into the river. “Do you want to watch the Godfather?” And then, as what had to be a lure. “Yuzu’s making apple pie.”
Eventually she would get around to telling him that his likes weren’t her likes, but he knew her weakness. “Oh, all right.”
They walked away from the riverbank and Tatsuki glanced at Ichigo from the corner of her eye. Nothing ever stayed the same, she understood, and the time when she was taller than him had long passed, but despite that their friendship remained ever durable even with the tweaks. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“ . . . you’re not lying about the pie, are you?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die if I am.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t die. Maybe come away with a headache.”
As they walked back together, Tatsuki figured she would have taken up his offer even if there hadn’t been apple pie involved. Ichigo probably knew that.
Series: Bleach
Title: Steady
Author: Ore
Genre: Gen - with Tatsuki and Ichigo!
Disclaimer: Belongs to Kubo Tite.
Notes: It was mostly about fighting. And, you know, maybe a little about friendship.
~
“You - win!” Ichigo managed in ragged breaths.
“Yes!” Tatsuki leaped up from her kneeling position on Ichigo’s chest and threw her arms in the air. “The 422nd fight of Kurosaki Ichigo vs. the fabulous Arisawa Tatsuki ends in the 422nd victory for Arisawa!”
Ichigo sat up, flexing his right hand gently before rubbing at his bruised knuckles. “Your count’s off by five.”
“Hmm . . . 427th doesn’t sound right.”
“417th time! 417th!”
She reached down and their dirty and battered hands locked together as she pulled him to his feet. “You’re not going to beat me any faster by lowering the number.”
“I’m not lowering it. It’s 417.”
“You lie.”
“I don’t!”
Tatsuki crossed her arms, stuck her chin out. “Ha, prove it!”
She was ready when he flung himself at her.
After the 418th -- or 423rd as she would have it -- fight and victory in her name, they spread out in the torn grass underneath the hot sun, panting and taking the opportunity to poke at each other ever once in a while.
“So hot,” Tatsuki managed to mumble eventually.
“Mm,” Ichigo agreed wordlessly, stretching his hands upwards to block the sun. “We used to go to the beach on days like this - we’d get ice cream.”
“Oh.” That look only came into his eyes when he was thinking of one person and it disturbed her, because she could never understand it. That isolation.
Neither of them spoke again until Tatsuki stuck her hand into the pocket of her torn and filthy pants (why can’t you be a lady, her mother always said with a sigh) and found part of her allowance still there.
“Hey,” she said, climbing to her feet.
“What?”
“C’mon!” and she helped him up for the second time, “I know an ice cream place around here.”
She was only twelve and there was no beach and she would probably never understand that dark part of Ichigo, but she did know what friends were for.
~
“Ah, Tatsuki, you’re bleeding.” Ichigo said, his finger wavering as if not sure which wound to point at.
She examined the long scrape down on her left elbow and picked at the pebbles studded along it, giving him a quick look. “I‘m not the only one.”
Ichigo swiped carelessly at a bleeding scratch on his cheek. “That was a dumb idea,” he said, shooting a glance up at the embankment they had tumbled down.
“You think?” Rising to her feet unsteadily, Tatsuki frowned down at her bloody knees and figured she was in for another talking with her mother. Perhaps on the subject of ‘you should stop fighting with that nice Kurosaki boy.’ “It was your idea.”
“I didn‘t ask you to come.” He followed her lead and stood, managing to grump, “The branch wasn’t supposed to break.”
“It did.”
“I broke your fall.” He paused and she saw him staring at her empty hands. “Did you get it in?”
“With your elbow, sheesh. - and what are you thinking? Of course it’s in. One baby bird safely home.”
“Good.” Ichigo was poking at the newly made holes in his pants and caught Tatsuki’s eye. “I don’t think I have enough bandages for the both of us. We have to go home.”
Home meant the Kurosaki Clinic and Tatsuki was not going to grimace. At all. “Your dad’s going to think I beat you up. Again.”
Ichigo sighed. “More survival lessons.”
“Ah, well, can’t be helped.”
“Let’s go. And remember to duck when you enter.”
“As usual.”
~
Sweat dripped down Tatsuki’s forehead and she wiped it away with a careless swipe of the back of her hand. “One more time, Ichi- Kurosaki-san.”
“I‘m finished,” he said, bowing to her.
“I said one more time.”
“I said no, Arisawa-san.” She almost had him, she thought, from the way his eyebrows scrunched together more normally and the tic at his left eye. But no, he turned on his heel and quietly held a quick coversation with Sensei -- who almost raised his voice, but then who settled back and gave a curt nod at him. Ichigo started walking away amidst raised eyebrows and loud congratulations. He bowed at the entrance of the training room and left.
“Tomorrow!” she called after him.
Sensei frowned after him and did not meet her gaze when she attempted to catch his eye.
~
She found Ichigo at the video arcade the next day and as she watched him press buttons and jerk at the controller she wondered if she should just kick his ass. Tired and more than disgruntled, she stalked up behind him and swung her backpack right into the small of his back, sending him slamming into the machine with a loud ‘Oomph’ and groan.
“Where were you today?” she demanded.
“What the hell?” Ichigo managed to turn himself around to face her. “T-tatsuki?”
“You weren’t at karate today and then I asked Sensei and he said that you had quit.”
“Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
He rubbed at his back and grimaced. “Seriously.”
“You’re an idiot!” And because eyes were turning to stare at them, she grabbed him by the collar of his school jacket and dragged him onto the sidewalk where people would not have an excuse to lurk and watch them, but realzing that even that probably would not stop them, so she shoved him into a nearby alleyway.
“Careful!” Ichigo whirled around, straightening his clothes. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I should be asking you that question.” She imagined that the whole situation might be more pleasant with her fist planted in his face. Really.
“What?”
“What? You can’t quit like that. We have to have a rematch.”
“I won, Tatsuki.”
“Once. You can’t quit after one time -”
“I only needed once.” He watched her. Never blinked. Damn that look of his.
“Ah, you’re pissing me off!” Tatsuki sighed, glanced back at him and smacked her palm against her forehead. “Fine!”
His eyebrows raised a bit. “That easy?”
“Only because I‘m a kind and generous person. And my goodwill is on a time limit.” Her book bag on her shoulder once more, she considered one last elbow in the stomach for him and then decided not. Today something had changed in their regular pattern and it wasn’t that she would no longer see him at karate. Until that straightened itself out, she figured, she could for a bit. Wouldn’t take long, anyways. “You’re a punk for quitting. A punk. But I guess we can get something to eat together.”
“Hey! . . . I hope you brought your own money, because ’m not going to pay for you again.”
“Yeah, yeah. This time it‘s on me.”
~
"I've beaten Arisawa Tatsuki! You're all pathetic compared to her."
The statement and familiar voice caused Tatsuki to turn off the road and walk down the embankment towards an ongoing fight. And yes, there was Ichigo going up against seven idiots.
“Hey! You’re still using that?” Tatsuki sent one of Ichigo’s opponents on an abrupt swimming lesson in the river.
Ichigo took out some long-faced goon with his knee to the goon’s chin. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Nice way to thank a friend for coming to help.”
“I was doing fine on my own if you hadn’t noticed.”
“So you wanted me to walk by?”
“Of course not, I-” and they both noticed the goons had stopped coming. Ichigo looked disgruntled and barked at the wide-eye faces, “What’s wrong with you? Just going to let it end like this?”
“Yeah! I’m not even breathing hard - you have to do more than that to warm up the Great -”
“A-arisawa Tatsuki!” one of them yelped and then they fled.
“Huh,” Ichigo said.
Tatsuki watched as the last goon disappeared. “Where have I run into them before?”
Ichigo shrugged. “They didn’t believe me when I said I beat you.”
“Once!”
“Once is enough.”
“I can’t believe you still use that. It was over a year ago!”
“I know.”
Tatsuki elbowed him. “If you’d let me fight one more time -”
“Oomph!” Ichigo stepped away, but not before aiming a punch at her shoulder. “No more!”
She rubbed her shoulder. “Whatever.”
“Sure been awhile since we fought together,” Ichigo said. “Where’s that one girl you hang out with?”
“Arts and Crafts Club. . . . It wasn’t even a real fight, what a disappointment.” She stooped down and picked up a pebble, tossing it up and down. “Sado-kun?”
“Chad’s at band practice.”
“Ah.”
He caught the pebble as it was traveling up and she glared at him. “Been awhile,” he said nonchalantly.
“The two of us? Maybe.”
Ichigo flicked the pebble into the river. “Do you want to watch the Godfather?” And then, as what had to be a lure. “Yuzu’s making apple pie.”
Eventually she would get around to telling him that his likes weren’t her likes, but he knew her weakness. “Oh, all right.”
They walked away from the riverbank and Tatsuki glanced at Ichigo from the corner of her eye. Nothing ever stayed the same, she understood, and the time when she was taller than him had long passed, but despite that their friendship remained ever durable even with the tweaks. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“ . . . you’re not lying about the pie, are you?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die if I am.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t die. Maybe come away with a headache.”
As they walked back together, Tatsuki figured she would have taken up his offer even if there hadn’t been apple pie involved. Ichigo probably knew that.