I kept staring off into the distance. Unable to process what happened over the weekend. Shinji. It was just Hirako Shinji. That blond with straight hair and asymmetrical bangs with the Osaka accent and perfect set of pearly whites. And after the dance, I noticed he had a tongue piercing. A tongue piercing. Something I think about way too much.
Pushing that aside, I made cookies. More specifically, dahlia cookies, known as old fashioned custard butter cookies. It's called Semperit because a Malay chef mispronounced 'shortbread'. I made them because I was starting to get homesick. And also I needed to give everyone something.
They've helped me a lot. The least I can do was giving them something.
I went to school with two-cylinder containers in my bag. One for the Urahara's shop. Another for the Visored. Even though they humiliated me, I still thanked them for not chasing me away because I was dating their unofficial leader. I also had a Tupperware in my bag for myself to enjoy. And maybe get some cookies stolen by a person or five.
Rangiku looked over to me, "So... how was Saturday?" She asked. I looked at her, "It was good," I replied. She wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Who were you with?" She asked again. "I was with you, shopping, remember?" I replied. Yumi looked over to Rangiku, "You went shopping with her, without me?" He scoffed, "And here I thought we were solving her fashion crisis together."
Rangiku pulled Yumi closer and whispered a few things to him. He lets out an inaudible oh and smiled, looking over to me. "Of course I remembered! But who were you with after that?" Rangiku pressed on, wanting me to mention about the date. Yumi leaned closer to me, backing up Rangiku.
In front of everyone. Great.
I chewed slowly, trying to buy myself some time. I didn't want to mention it in front of everyone. But Yumichika and Rangiku's eager looks pressured me to say it. "I went on a date," I simply stated. "Hmm, but with who, Neddy?" Yumi narrowed his eyes at me. A wicked smile on his lips. Their questions limited my choices.
"With Shinji..." I mumbled, barely audible. "Neddy-Chan, I can't hear you," Orihime stated innocently, but eager to find out who it was. But the answer was so obvious. Everyone knew who I went out with. "With Shinji," I spoke up, but my voice still soft and hushed. At least it could be heard.
And there, I felt the wind froze. Everyone stared at me. Rangiku and Yumi smiling as if they were proud. Maybe they were because as far as I know, the two of them were trying to set me up with the captain. "I don't wanna hear it," Ichigo huffed, turning his back to me. "K-Kurosaki-Kun? Why not?" Orihime placed her hand on his shoulder, her grey eyes looking over to her strawberry.
"Because he's a weirdo," he answered, "And I don't wanna know how someone's date went. That's private!" He crossed his arms. "Ichigo, you don't take out your frustration on someone else just because you tripped and fell on your first date with Orihime," Rukia suddenly spoke, firing shots at Ichigo.
Orihime went into a panic, "K-Kuchiki-San, you shouldn't say things like that!" She laughed nervously, patting Ichigo's back. "Shut up, Rukia," he mumbled, "There was a banana peel in the middle of the park. It wasn't my fault I fell." "But it was your fault for not watching where you step!" Rukia fired back, "I've told you countless time to be aware of your surrounding. Your footsteps included!"
Ichigo got onto his feet and started arguing and firing insults to Rukia. Rukia stood up and did the same. Orihime was in the centre, trying to calm the two. I watched the two squabble. "Don't worry," Toshiro sighed, "They're always like this." I looked around, seeing everyone distracted by the trio.
"Well, Ned," I heard Yumi say, "Tell us what happened," I spoke too soon. Rangiku and Yumi leaned closer to me, eager for me to share the gossip. "Don't leave any details out!" Rangiku added, winking at me. I sighed in defeat and told them that he showed me around Karakura Town. From the school to the shopping complex
"Eh, that's all?" Rangiku pouted, "I expected Captain Hirako to be a romantic," she sounded disappointed. "That's all?" Ichigo scoffed, "You should've seen the two yesterday." I froze. I forgot Ichigo was at the warehouse. It didn't occur to me that he saw it. "They were all holding hands and leaning onto each other," Ichigo continued, "And then they were dancing with each other," Yumi and Rangiku sparkled as they turned to me.
"They were so close to each other," he gagged, "It made me sick." Orihime stood behind him, "Kurosaki-Kun... don't you like being close and holding hands with me...?" Orihime asked, sounding a little hurt by his statement. Ichigo turned around, "N-No! That's not what I meant!" He began panicking, trying to comfort her, "I'm with you, Inoue. That's different!" Orihime brought her hands to her chest, "Its okay... you can be honest, Kurosaki-Kun..."
Yumi and Rangiku grabbed my shoulder. An aura radiated from the two. "Captain Hirako is a romantic, isn't he?" Rangiku asked, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "For someone who dresses like that, it's not a surprise," Yumi said, "Say, Ned, what did you two did yesterday?" I swallowed my saliva. I looked at the two, sweating profusely.
They were taking me, hostage, until I answered all of their questions.
It was Aizen's class. And I was aimlessly doodling on a piece of paper. Just drawing loops and flowers, and wasting the ink of the blue pen. I felt his eyes on me. I looked up from the paper. "Ned," he called out. His voice smooth and velvet as ever. He pointed to his forehead and nose, "What happened there?"
"Oh!" I placed my hand on the cotton taped to my forehead. "I fell down the stairs and landed on my face," I laughed it off, "No big deal." He hummed, eyeing me. "You should take better care of yourself," he paused, "You've only been here for a few weeks and the longer you're here, the more injuries I'm seeing you get." I laughed, ducking my head down as he continued teaching the class.
I had to admit, he did had a point.