Puppy Love Sucks: Part 3

The rest of the night passed completely uneventfully.

From his vantage point with the security cameras, Ichigo was able to observe Byakuya doing his butler kinds of tasks like polishing the silver, Hisana preparing different dishes and then setting them to the side for later, Sora working in his office on paperwork or making several calls and finally Rukia floating around the house helping with whatever needed to be done. At one time she'd be chopping vegetables or fruits for Hisana to put in the blender to make the vampires' meals [Author's Note: explanation on that coming later] and then a bit later Rukia would be helping Byakuya replace and arrange fresh flowers in the different rooms.

Like he had told Sora, Ichigo made his rounds and took his 'cat naps' at irregular intervals. There were a few minutes that put Ichigo slightly on edge when he saw a car stop next to the gate and just sit there for several minutes. Just as he was about to go outside and investigate, he saw a man and woman get out of the car and start to argue. The woman stalked over to the man and thrust what looked to be a map at him, to which the man responded by slapping it on the car hood and making angry gestures with his fingers on the map.

While the entire incident with the man and woman could possibly be a ruse to diffuse Ichigo's suspicions and divert his attention, the likelihood of that was rather unlikely in Ichigo's estimation. Those two would have to be superb actors and the one to think of such a ruse would have to be a genius. Further confirmation of Ichigo's belief that this was not an act came when the woman pulled out her cell phone and then began pacing back and forth impatiently, switching between yelling at her phone and continuing her argument with the man at regular intervals.

Leaning back in his chair, Ichigo couldn't help the small grin that tugged at his mouth as he watched the drama unfold. The woman's phone would not get a signal because Ichigo had created a 'dead zone' around the Inoue household with the help of some tech he had picked up from a colleague of his earlier that day. The dead zone extended for half a mile in all directions so that anyone attempting to hack into the Inoue house or internet was going to have more than their fair share of work to deal with.

A few minutes later, the couple got back into the car and peeled away so noisily that Ichigo could hear the tires squealing from where he sat. He cringed slightly at the sound since his hearing was sensitive and he didn't prefer high, piercing noises.

After that, it wasn't long until the dawn started to peek over the horizon. As he continued to watch the occupants of the house carry on with their business, Ichigo began to detect signs of their energy beginning to wane. Hisana would stop her work more frequently to wipe her brow. Sora switched from massaging his temples to rubbing the bridge of his nose and back and forth in an effort to keep himself awake as he talked on the phone. Byakuya was a bit harder to pinpoint, but eventually Ichigo noticed that Byakuya shifted his weight slightly from one foot to the other as he continued his work. Rukia, however, did something completely different from the others. Just before the sun rose, she slipped into Orihime's bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Only in very extreme circumstances did Ichigo ever set up security cameras in bedrooms or bathrooms since he did want the occupants of the house not to feel as though he was there to invade their privacy. Instead, he set up several security cameras outside their windows from different angles to watch for intruders trying to infiltrate the bedrooms.

So, as a result of not being able to see what was going on, Ichigo could only assume that Rukia had entered Orihime's room to clean up, wake Orihime up, set out an outfit or something along those lines. It seemed as though Ichigo's assumption was correct because as soon as the sun came into view, so did Orihime. Stepping out of her bedroom, Orihime stretched her arms above her head and inadvertently smiled brilliantly into one of the security cameras. For just a moment, Ichigo's mind was side-tracked as he was struck with the odd idea of watching two suns rise at the same time.

Hearing a knock on the door, Ichigo flinched slightly at the sound, but saw from the camera outside his door that it was Byakuya. Glancing over the other monitors, Ichigo saw that everyone else was on the move, but especially that Hisana was laying the table for the morning meal. Getting up from his cushioned swivel chair, Ichigo cracked his neck as he went to open the door.

As soon as the door was pulled back enough to reveal the butler's face, Byakuya inclined his head slightly and said, "Breakfast is ready, sir."

"All right then," replied Ichigo briefly before allowing Byakuya to precede him down the hall, down the stairs and into the dining room.

When he entered, Ichigo's gaze was immediately drawn to his principal. In comparison to the night before, it was obvious that she was now rested and full of energy.

"So, she's a morning person," thought Ichigo briefly before he said aloud, "Good morning, Orihime. I trust you slept well."

Ichigo detected a slight flush to Orihime's cheeks and neck, but her voice was quite composed as she replied, "Yes, I did. Thank you for asking."

Pleasantries aside, Ichigo waited by his chair until Byakuya had assisted Orihime into hers and then come around the table to seat him. Then, with Sora seated last, the meal began.

"Brother," asked Orihime as she spooned some chopped fruit onto her plate, "how did your conversation with Mr. Yamamoto go?"

Looking over at Orihime as he finished taking a drink from his glass, Sora paused long enough to quickly wipe his lips before he sighed and said, "I think it went about as good as can be expected. He's a tough customer to please and his demands sometimes seem a bit impossible," then he gave Orihime a reassuring smile as he said, "but he pays well and is willing to recommend us to his acquaintances when we satisfy him."

Turning to Ichigo, Sora inquired with a slight frown, "Did I ever mention what it is that I do?"

Pausing long enough to chew and swallow the bite of food in his mouth, Ichigo answered with a shake of the head, "No. It's never come up."

"I didn't think so," replied Sora as he placed his glass back on the table, "Well, I own a company that both researches and manufactures medical supplies and machinery. We try to cater to both human and supernatural customers, so our clientele is rather diverse."

Leaning back in his chair, Sora rested his temple against his fingertips as he went on, "Mr. Yamamoto is director of several hospitals in this area as well as in two other provinces. Being a mage himself, Mr. Yamamoto was one of the first to open a hospital strictly for supernatural beings, another strictly for humans and another who would admit any patient regardless of race within ten miles of each other."

"I think I remember that," said Ichigo as he set down his fork to take a drink of water, "There was a lot of controversy over the hospital that would admit anyone since most people feared that beings like vampires, werewolves or ghouls might attack and possibly eat any humans in the hospital."

"It was quite a while ago," replied Sora before he said with a slight smile, "and I must say that at the time I was quite amused with the clips and stories human newscasters decided to use of all the potential atrocities supernatural beings could cause to humankind…before they realized that we'd been living amongst them quite naturally for centuries."

With a grave expression, Sora added, "Granted, there were factions from every race who lived up to those atrocities mentioned and preferred to keep living in that dark, fearmongering lifestyle."

Ichigo saw Sora's eyes darken momentarily as he added under his breath, "Like my parents."

While he didn't feel at all uncomfortable in the changed atmosphere, nevertheless, Ichigo was pleasantly surprised when Orihime broke in gently, saying, "Sora, you cannot force change on others. If you try, they will resent you and do exactly as they please in front of you out of spite."

With a rather melancholy smile, Orihime went on, "And besides, even if there are still those who cling to the old ways, they are drastically held in check by rules and laws that carry heavy consequences if broken."

Letting out a long sigh, Sora gave his sister a warm smile as he said, "You're right, Orihime. It's been a long night and now it's my turn to go to bed before I fall asleep walking up the stairs or something."

The only sign of embarrassment Orihime showed was a slight flush to the cheeks and neck as she carefully wiped her mouth, rose from her chair and walked around to where her brother sat to give him an affectionate peck on his temple as she said, "Good work tonight and pleasant dreams, Brother."

Reaching out to squeeze her hand lightly, Sora turned to Byakuya and said, "A quick word, if you don't mind," to which Byakuya responded with a grave nod before following Sora into the hallway.

Returning to her seat and resuming her meal, Orihime was silent for a time before she cleared her throat and said, "I'll make sure to amuse myself or take care of a few things in my room while you and the others are resting, if that's what you think would be best."

"Only if you want to," answered Ichigo as he helped himself to another ham slice and a spoonful of eggs, "If you have any business or errands to run outside the house, I'll be up and around, so just let me know and we'll go."

Orihime's brow creased momentarily in confusion and then smoothed out again as she said, "Oh, I see. You got your sleep last night, then?"

Swallowing his bite of food, Ichigo shrugged and said simply, "As much as I need."

Frowning again, Orihime asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Letting out a silent sigh, Ichigo took enough time to wipe his mouth and set his silverware down before fixing Orihime with a stern 'after-I-explain-this-we're-dropping-the-subject' expression as he said, "Orihime, your brother hired me to be your bodyguard. As you are aware, I have been hired as a bodyguard on multiple occasions, so I know what I'm doing."

Pausing to take a sip of water but making sure that he kept his eyes locked with Orihime's so that she wouldn't try and protest due to being frozen by his stare, Ichigo cleared his throat and continued, "I explained to your brother last night that I don't need eight or even six hours of sleep in order to function properly. My responsibility is to protect you until my contract is fulfilled and your responsibility is to let me do my job without fuss or complaint on how I choose to go about things."

Lowering his chin slightly, Ichigo asked, "Do we understand one another?"

Orihime didn't answer right away, however, Ichigo could plainly see Orihime's entire thought process written all over her face. Part of his training had involved learning about 'micro-expressions' and subtle body language in order to assess whether an approaching person was a threat to the principal or not, or even if a person was lying to him. In Orihime's case, he didn't even need to bother trying. The girl had no poker face.

Finally, Orihime cleared her throat and said quietly, "Yes, I understand," while her eyes and expression added, 'But that doesn't mean I can't still worry about you.'

Giving a single nod in reply, Ichigo picked his silverware back up as he asked, "So, do you have any plans to go outside the house today?"

"Actually, I do," said Orihime before she explained, "I wanted to head into town and stop by the music store to pick up some sheet music they ordered for me as well as drop by the hospital and visit a few friends of mine."

"All right then," replied Ichigo, "About what time were you thinking of heading out?"

"Umm," said Orihime thoughtfully, "maybe around noon or so. If that's all right with you."

About to open his mouth and say something like 'I just told you that I'm only here to protect you, so I don't have a schedule to keep', Ichigo stopped himself and said instead, "Sure. I'll have the car ready by noon unless you tell me otherwise."

It might have just been Ichigo's imagination, but he could have sworn that when Orihime smiled at him, the light in the room increased marginally and yet noticeably.