Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ The Project ❯ The Storm ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I just enjoy the show, perhaps too much since I'm writing this. Anyway, Kubo Tite owns Bleach, not me, so don't sue. I'm just a lazy-assed teenager who likes to write.

 

A/N: Edited and revised.

 

Summary: One day Ishida and Inoue are assigned a project that ultimately decides their fate together.

 

 

The Storm

 

Ever since Ishida saved Inoue from Jirobo and Kurotsuchi in Sereitei, he has felt more protective of her than normal. Because of this and being part of the handicraft club, Inoue and Ishida have spent more time together. Their friendship progressed to where she would come to Ishida almost as much as she would Tatsuki. They began to share many other interests besides handicrafts.

 

Ishida didn't mind spending so much time with Inoue; in fact, he began to look forward to their handicraft meetings more than before. He loved that he had someone to talk to and share ideas with but he also loved that someone knew him on a deeper level than everyone else. He had always hated high school because of the cliques and pressure to fit in. He was a loner but also was the top in his class. That and the fact he chose a needle and thread over a soccer ball didn't make him too popular anyway. Spending time with someone who understood him was a lot better, especially when it was the most attractive girl in his grade.

 

Inoue always had a smile on her face, rarely expressing anger or even sadness for that matter, but when she was with Ishida-kun it was always more genuine somehow, as if being near him was enough to fill her with an eternal warmth. She began to spend more time with him outside of school and hollow related issues. They could talk and sometimes do homework together whenever she needed some help. He always seemed to be there for her at any given time, which gave her a warm feeling inside whenever she thought about it.

 

He listened to her go on about how vegetables and butterscotch seemed perfect together one day after school. They had decided to work on a project together and were headed back to his place to begin. The conversation carried on until they arrived at his front door.

 

“Wow Ishida-kun, you have a nice place!” said an excited Inoue, seeing his living room.

 

“Than you, Inoue-san,” he said closing the door quietly, “Sit down, I'll get us something to drink.”

 

She sat down in and looked in awe at how much better he kept his apartment compared to hers. She jumped a little as he placed two cans of soda on the table in front of her. She looked up at him, his face placid, watching her with his blue eyes.

 

“Are you okay, Inoue-san?” he asked in a comforting way, “You seem a little flushed.”

 

She blushed at how he was looking at her so intently, as if she was a work of art. “I'm fine, thank you. What do you think we should do on the project, Ishida-kun?”

 

“I was thinking of a research paper, several pages long, explaining the difference in the layers of the atmosphere but that sounds a little too basic, what do you think?” was his soft reply.

 

“Oooh…, that sounds nice and we were only given the assignment a little while ago. You're so smart, Ishida-kun!”

 

“Thank you,” his face warming from the growing blush, “What do you say we begin drafting some ideas we can use in the paper?”

 

“Okay, let me get my textbook” was her eager reply.

 

After two straight hours of work with only a few snacks, they decided to take a break and get something to eat. “What do you feel like, Inoue-san? I could eat anything.”

 

“How about something from that deli I saw on the way over here? I always liked cold sandwiches and they had an advertisement on the window about a party tray. What do you think?”

 

“That sounds great, I've actually never eaten there before though…” he trailed of as he felt a low rumble from his irritated stomach, “…lets go.”

 

After a couple of sandwiches and some talking, they returned to his apartment to finish the report. “The sky looked a lot darker than earlier, Ishida-kun, I hope it doesn't storm real badly,” Inoue said in a slightly off tone. She always hated storms since she was a little girl and her brother wasn't there to comfort her.

 

“I'm sure it won't be too terrible,” he replied, attempting to reassure her. He sensed her tone and picked up on her wavering reiatsu, “If you want, we can stop working on the project today and continue tomorrow, after all, we have until Wednesday until it is due.”

 

“No, its okay,” she responded with a firmer tone, “If we can work on it now, we have less to worry about for the rest of the week.”

 

 

After another couple of hours, Ishida looked up from his work and noticed Inoue asleep on his couch. Not having the heart to wake her up and move her, he went to his closet and brought her a small blanket. She looked so beautiful, laying there unconscious. Her small cheeks rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled… He stopped himself after a couple of moments, reprimanding himself for not looking away sooner.

 

“Its been nearly five hours since she came over here and we don't have school tomorrow, I'll just let her sleep here tonight,” He began to sit back down and continue working, but the project had taken a lot out of him as well, “There really is no use for me to continue, we still have plenty of enough time to work on it,” he thought, trying to persuade himself to give him a break.

 

He began to head to his bedroom to change when he heard a loud clap of thunder in the sky. Slowly, the conversation earlier came back to him about Inoue and the dark clouds earlier. Quietly, he returned to his living room to see Inoue turning in her sleep, badly affected by the storm. Slowly, he picked her up in a soft embrace and carried her to his bed where he left her there, tucking the blanket around her. “She will sleep a lot better there than on that crappy sofa,” he convinced himself, “After all, she is my guest and she is afraid of storms. I'll just sleep out there and think about what we will do tomorrow.”