Chapter 4:Hangovers Sucks

"You're late."

Ichigo looked up to see an angry Angel glaring at him with her arms crossed in front of her. He then looked up to read the clock above the chalkboard.

8:00 am.

The orange head groaned. "Give me a break, midget."

Angel felt a vein pumping fast on her forehead at the word 'midget.' "You're the one who told me to be here early. Now there's only thirty minutes left until class starts!"

Ichigo groaned again, rubbing his temple. "Keep your voice down, midget, you're killing me."

Before Angel could shout anything back at him, she closed her mouth and stared as he staggered towards the front desk in pain. "Second day of work and you're already sick?" she asked.

Ichigo glared. "Bitch, it's a hangover."

"I thought you were kidding about the 'I'm drunk' thing last night," she said.

"Me too," he nodded, dropping his stuff on the podium before placing his elbows on it, propping them up as he dropped his head on top of them. "But I woke up this morning with the worst hangover ever."

Angel sighed. "How do you expect to teach today if you can barely stand me yelling at you?" Ichigo only replied with another strained groan. Angel rolled her eyes as she grabbed her bag and went to the door.

Ichigo's eyes followed her. "Where are you going?" he called out.

"I'll be back in a sec.," she replied before running down the hallway.

For a good two minutes Ichigo continued massaging his throbbing temples when something cold suddenly touched his forehead. He yelped in surprise. "What the fuck?!" He looked up and noticed Angel standing in front of him with a cold water-bottle in one hand and a small bottle of aspirin in the other.

"I always carry around aspirin since my friends have a tendency to drive me up the wall quite often," she shrugged her shoulders as she tossed the items to the orange head who clumsily caught it.

"Thanks…I guess," Ichigo replied before opening the bottle, popping a pill in his mouth, and washing it down with water.

Angel merely nodded before taking a seat atop of the desk nearest him. "Anyways, why am I here so early in the morning?"

Ichigo looked over and lifted an orange brow. "What?" Angel immediately tossed a hard book at Ichigo's face, hitting him straight on. He fell over and quickly jumped back on his feet with an angry face, wiping away the blood dripping down from his nose. "What the fuck was that for?!"

"For forgetting that you were the one who told me to arrive early today," Angel growled back, crossing her arms across her chest again.

"…When?" Again, Ichigo got hit with another book. "Will you fucking stop throwing shit at me?!"

Angel rolled her eyes. "You really need to work on your language; don't forget you're a teacher now," she said before jumping off the desk and walking over. She stood in front of Ichigo and poked him on the chest. "And for your information, you told me last night to come early and I did. However, you came thirty minutes late."

Ichigo looked down at her and smirked. "You're even shorter up front."

Before another second passed Angel grabbed her bag and slammed it down on the orange field of head.

"OW! Fucking bitch, will you stop hitting me?! I'm still not over my hangover!" Ichigo yelled.

Angel crossed her arms again and glared up at him. "Well it's not my fault you went drinking last night."

"Keeping rubbing it in midget," Ichigo growled before slumping over the desk. "But I serious can't remember why I wanted you to come to class so early. You sure you weren't drunk?"

Angel rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm still underage."

"I doubt that stops anyone from drinking," Ichigo commented.

Angel opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She looked over at Ichigo and smirked. "Is this from your own personal experience?"

Ichigo just looked at her for a second before smirking back. "I have TONS of crazy memories from my high school days."

"Why am I not surprised," Angel shook her head. "Anyways, think hard to remember why you needed me. Or else I'm going to rip out those chicken feathers off your head for making me get up so early this morning."

"Ehh," Ichigo groaned, scratching the back of his head in frustration. "It might have something to do with some paperwork but I guess it's not that important if I can't even remember it."

"Or you're just stupid," Angel mumbled to the side.

"I heard that," Ichigo glared.

Angel glared back. "That's because I wanted you to hear it, dumbass."

Ichigo stared at her for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. "Fine, but you should be careful with what you say and how you say it. I am you're teacher now, you know."

"A stupid teacher," Angel snapped back, "Don't think you can intimidate me by using your position against me. Don't forget I know where you live," she pointed a finger at him.

Ichigo only groaned, waving his hand in the air as if dismissing that information, when suddenly it struck him. "I suddenly remember what I needed you to do," he yawned before slowly reaching over to his bag and dumping out its content. "I needed you to give me an update on the student information thing…here," he handed over a piece of paper while his upper body was still slumped over the desk, "Give it back to me by today; I need to email the new list of books to the students."

Angel looked over the sheet that had her classmates' names and old information on it. She groaned. "This is too bothersome. Do I really have to do this?"

"Well, if you don't, who will? There's no way in hell I'm going to do it," Ichigo said.

Letting out a long sigh Angel grabbed a pencil and looked over the paper in her hand. "I'll do this today but you better not order me around after this or else I'm going to make you regret it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ichigo waved her off again.

Angel glared at him before going through the list and making as much corrections as she could by herself.

Hopefully it won't take too long…

Angel walked around the classroom all throughout lunch and the ten-minute breaks between classes, asking each student to update their information. One after another she got what she needed and wrote it on a different piece of paper, organizing everything like the 'perfectionist' that she was.

Justin walked over and leaned over her shoulder. "What's all this?"

"The student information sheet," Angel simply replied while continuing to scribble on the paper.

"But you didn't ask us for our information," Justin pointed out as he tried to read what she was writing.

"That's because I already updated you guys' information myself," she said before glaring up at him, "Now would you leave me alone? I can't think straight with you breathing down my neck."

Justin shrugged and pulled up a chair in front of Angel and sat down on it backwards, facing his friend while his legs were spread apart on either side of the back rest. He silently watched as Angel went down the list and made changes here and there.

After a few minutes of silence, Justin spoke up again. "Looks boring."

"It is," Angel said, "But Ich—Walker-sensei wanted this done before the end of school so he can email us the new materials for this class."

"Augh, I'm not looking forward to that. I just gotten used to Mina-sensei's style but now I have to figure out this new teacher's grading method?" Justin snorted, scratching the back of his head.

Angel sighed. "I know what you mean. Hopefully he's not too strict like Fernandez-sensei."

"He might be since he is friends with that gay teacher," Justin frowned.

Angel chuckled and looked at her childhood friend. "You're lucky Fernandez-sensei isn't here right now. You know how much he hates that stupid rumor that's going around school."

"Well, he is the teacher in charge of the handicraft club," Justin smirked.

Angel stopped chuckling and her eyes widened. "You didn't…don't tell you're the one who started that crazy rumor!"

This time Justin smirked, devilishly. "That's what that bastard gets for giving me a fucking 'F' in that science project. I wasted a good day working on that thing when I could have been at the club with my buddies."

Angel dropped her head and shook it in disbelief. "I can't believe you'd stoop so low. You did have over a week to do the project so it was natural for you to get an 'F' if you did it in just one day."

"Whatever," Justin snorted, resting his head against the top of the backrest of the chair. He kept watching as Angel rewrote the student information on another piece of paper. "How much longer do you have to do this?"

"Awhile," she simply replied, "There's a lot more changes than I expected."

Justin turned his body to read what she had written. He lifted a red brow in confusion. "I don't think Walker-sensei will be able to read your writing. They look like chicken-scratch."

Angel looked up and glared at him with all the ice in the world. "Watch it before I decide to stab your eye with this pen."

Justin lifted up his two hands in the air as a sign of defeat. "I won't bother you anymore," he said, standing up from the chair and stretching. "Anyways, hurry up. Break is almost over."

"I'm not even close to finishing. I just got the last information and it's taking forever to rewrite everything."

"Why are you rewriting them then?" Justin asked.

Angel sighed. "There's a lot of changes and it won't fit into this little paper," she said, shaking the original student information sheet in front of Justin, "So I'm rewriting it, organizing the list."

"Aren't you trying too hard to appear good to the new teacher?" Justin asked.

"What are you implying?" Angel asked back.

Justin scooted closer and peered at Angel's face up close. "What I'm implying is: Are you trying to get at something with the new teach'?"

Instead of saying anything, Angel grabbed a nearby book and smacked Justin across the face in a flash. "Watch what you're saying before another rumor starts."

"Bitch," Justin mumbled as he rubbed the side of his bruising face. And just as he said the bell soon rung, signaling the start of their last class for the day. Justin returned to his seat behind his friend, while glaring at her, as she tried to finish her work. But it seemed almost impossible, no matter how fast she wrote.

One by one everyone started to return to class, all ready to end the day. Jane walked in, chatting with Bia and Clara Rodrigo about the amount of homework that they had to do.

"I can't believe Fernandez-sensei is making us write another report on that gravitational force-thingy again," Bia whined.

"It's not that hard so stop whining," Jane teased. Bia looked at her and pouted.

Rodrigo patted Bia back in comfort. "Don't worry about it, Bia-chan. I'll help you write your report."

"EEEIII! I know there was a reason why I love you so much," Bia squealed, grabbing Clara into another—literally—breath-taking hug.

"Bia, you're choking her again," Jane said as she yanked Bia's grasp off their little friend.

Clara took in several deep breaths, smiling up at her friend. "Thank you, Jane-chan."

The girls walked over to Angel and looked over her shoulder.

"You're still not done with that thing?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, it's taking longer than I thought," Angel frowned.

Bia patted her friend's shoulder. "Well good luck getting that done before school gets out," she said before returning to her desk.

Angel only nodded her head in response as her friends left her and the teacher came in to start class. For the entire class period Angel was busy going back and forth between class work and Ichigo's stupid paperwork that she was utterly confused with what she was really doing.

In the end, after the bell rung and everyone packed up and left, Angel had to stay behind alone and finish things up.

"See you tomorrow, Angel," Justin waved back as he left the classroom with his Kendo buddies.

Jane and the other girls also waved as they left. Angel only waved her hand but never took her eyes off the paper. She had to quickly finish this thing if she wanted to get home in time to catch the special rerun of Chappy the Rabbit and Friends: Escape Treasure Island tonight. Without much care how messy her writing was Angel finished her work and grabbed her stuff before making her way to the staff room.

"Ano, sumimasen," Angel slowly stepped in, "Is Walker-sensei here?"

Andrew  looked up from his desk and pushed up his glasses. "Bushū? Why do you need Ichigo?"

Angel held up the paper in her hand and smiled. "I need to give him this new information sheet that he requested. Is he here?"

"No, I'm afraid he's not here right now," Andrew said, "He requested a private staff room yesterday so he's in the room down the hall, room 304."

"Arigato gozaimasu," Angel bowed before closing the door and making her way down the hall. She looked at her surroundings and noticed nobody was in the halls but her. Looking out the window, Angel could see students leaving the school grounds except for a few students who were staying behind for extra curricular activities.

With a sigh, Angel arrived at room 304 and knocked on the door hard, as if venting out her frustration on it.

"Who is it?" came Ichigo's voice from the other side.

"It's me," Angel replied.

Within seconds Ichigo opened the door. "What do you want?" he asked.

Angel rolled her eyes before waving the piece of paper in front of him. "I finally finished this shit that you gave me this morning."

Ichigo snatched the paper that Angel was waving in front of him and looked through the list. "What took you forever?"

"There were a lot more changes than I thought," she sighed before turning around. "I'm going now so I'll see you later—" Before Angel could step away, Ichigo grabbed her elbow, stopping her. "What?" she glared, "I'm tired from doing that stupid thing and I have to get home."

Ichigo ignored her and handed back the sheet. "I can't read a single word on this paper."

Angel glared before grabbing it back. "What are you talking about? Are you blind or something?"

"No, but your handwriting looks like chicken-scratch," Ichigo retorted, "There's no way I can read this shit—OW! What was that for bitch?!"

Angel, who just stepped on his foot, glared up at the tall orange head. "For calling my handwriting 'shit.'"

"Well it is," Ichigo glared before reaching behind him and grabbing his bag. He pushed Angel to the side and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" Angel questioned through gritted teeth.

"Getting ready to get out of here," he said. Ichigo started to walk away, but because he still had a grip on Angel's arm, he was dragging her with him.

"Ichigo, let go," Angel said, "If you want to leave, then that's fine with me. But let go of me."

But instead of listening, Ichigo tightened his hold on her arm and looked back at her over his shoulder. "You're coming with me."

"WHAT?!" Angel shouted.

Ichigo stopped and glared. "SHH! What if somebody hears you?"

"There's nobody here," Angel informed him, "But that doesn't answer why I have to go with you!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes before dragging her towards the stairs again. "Because there is no way I can read that chicken-scratch—" Ichigo paused for a second to rub his arm that Angel suddenly pinched, "—So you're going to have to come back to my place and type whatever's on that paper into my computer."

"Why should I?" Angel asked, "I really have to go home."

"Why?" Ichigo asked as they walked down the stairs, "I thought you lived alone."

"I do—how did you know that?" Angel asked, realizing she never told him that much information about herself.

"Mark," he simply stated which was enough of an answer.

"I have a lot of homework, that's why," Angel pouted.

Ichigo stopped as they reached the shoe lockers just before the doors. "And you're sure it's not because of the special rerun of that Chappy movie?" he smirked as he grabbed his shoes.

Angel froze in the middle of putting on her shoes. Slowly she looked up with wide, suspicious eyes. "Okay, how do you know about that? I doubt Mark would know something about that too."

"Please," Ichigo rolled his eyes, "I know you're a Chappy fan, and my little sister has been going on and on about that stupid movie—OW! Stop doing that!" Ichigo shouted when Angel suddenly stepped on his foot again.

"Chappy is not stupid!" she glared.

Ichigo rolled his eyes before grabbing her arm again. "Whatever. You can watch that shitty movie at my place; just come and do this for me."

"I bet you just don't want to do it yourself so you're trying to get me to do it," Angel said, while allowing herself to get dragged again by him, "I bet you were a bully when you were in high school."

"Yes for the former but no for the latter," Ichigo answered, "I really don't want to do this shit because I have hella papers to go over; but as for the second part, no I was not a bully. Just look at the type of people I hung out with: Andrew and Zander. We might look intimidating but we never started any of the fights."

"Ah, but you admit you did get into fight!" Angel pointed at him.

They stopped when they reached a crosswalk. By this point Ichigo released his hold on her since they were going to go the same way anyways so there was no way she'd run away.

"Yes I did fight," Ichigo replied before pointing up to his hair, "I think it's quite inevitable if you have hair like this. Fucking bastards picked fights with me because they thought I was trying to copy their 'dyed' hair color, while others picked on Andrew because he was smart and Xander because he's part Mexican."

"Oh," Angel nodded in realization as she followed Ichigo to his apartment. "I guess that orange hair must have been bothersome when you were young." When she got no reply she walked past him and turned around, facing him as she walked backwards. "Why didn't you dye your hair black then?"

Ichigo shrugged. He reached up and twisted a lock of orange hair between his fingers. "It was my mom's idea. She always liked my hair because apparently it reflected my 'colorful side,'" he air quoted.

Angel chuckled. "And just what part of you was 'colorful'?"

"I was brighter when I was younger," he retorted.

"Then what happened that made you change?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. But instead of answer, Ichigo ignored her as he continued walking. A few seconds past and he still didn't answer. Angel waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Are you listening to me?"

Ichigo slapped her hand away before walking ahead and up the stairs towards his apartment.

"Bastard," Angel murmured before something struck her. Why was she here in front of Ichigo's apartment?

Ichigo, who was already up a few steps, stopped and turned back when he didn't hear Angel's footstep following behind him. "Aren't you coming?"

She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "I never agreed to help you—"

"I'll make you dinner," he replied.

"Aren't you done yet?"

"Shut up before I shove this thing down your throat!" Angel shouted back.

Ichigo emerged from the kitchen with two bowls of rice and placed in on the table. "How long can it possible take to update a list of less than forty students?"

Angel turned away from the computer to glare at him. "Just be fucking grateful that I'm doing this for you!"

Ichigo lifted up two pairs of chopsticks and grinned. "At least I'm making you dinner."

At those words Angel froze before going back to the computer to finish up the new student information sheet while mumbling small curses under her breath.

"I can still hear you," Ichigo called out from the kitchen. Instead of stopping Angel only spoke louder, mumbling more curses. Upon hearing her voice get louder and louder Ichigo couldn't help but smirk as he laid down the last plate of food on the table. "Oi, Angel ! Dinner's ready!"

"About time!" Angel slammed her hands on the desk and pushed herself up. She ran across Ichigo's apartment, over to the table, and sat across from Ichigo. "Itadekimasu!" She shouted as she grabbed her utensils and quickly dug into her meal.

Ichigo watched from across the table with a bit of disgust as she shoved food after food down her throat. "Have you been starving you're entire life or something? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Angel paused in her 'eating' to glare up. "Don't stick your nose into something that doesn't concern you."

"True…but if you don't answer then I might never make you food again," Ichigo shrugged before starting his dinner.

The sound of Angel chewing stopped and a long silence surrounded them with only Ichigo's chewing making it not so eerie. After a few seconds, Angel glared at Ichigo before whispering, "I can't cook."

"Figured as much," Ichigo simply replied before shoving a pickled radish into his mouth, "Now that wasn't so hard to admit, was it? I knew there was a reason why you're so short, midget."

Angel quickly responded by kicking him under the table. "I'm not a midget! I'm just petite!"

Ichigo groaned while rubbing his sore shin. "Whatever you say, midget."

"Stop calling me that!" Angel glared, "Besides, it might not mean much to you but I've been made fun of because I can't cook."

"Then how have you been living until now?" Ichigo asked.

"Mark's store has tons of snacks and junk food," she shrugged.

Ichigo frowned at her comment. "That's not healthy for you. If you're not careful starting at a young age, you'll regret it in the future."

"I know," Angel replied, "But there isn't anything I can do about it since I can't cook. It's not like I can take lessons on it either since I'm busy with school work and everything."

Ichigo chewed on his food as he watched Angel continued shoving rice down her throat. She sure lacks manners, too. "Wanna make a deal with me?" he suddenly asked.

"What kind of 'deal'?" she asked while grabbing a piece of grilled fish.

Ichigo leaned forward and pointed his chopsticks at her. "I'll teach you how to cook if you agree to help me."

For what seemed like the millionth time today, Angel froze in her spot while processing the words in her head. Slowly she looked up with a raised brow. "What kind of 'help'?" she asked with a suspicious look.

At first Ichigo wasn't sure why she was looking at him like that but it suddenly hit him and he immediately glared at her. "Please, I'm not that desperate," Ichigo said, "I meant help me out with class work. You come over and help me grade papers and stuff like that. How does that sound?"

"If you hate paperwork that much, why did you become a teacher?" she asked.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I have a huge love for literature so I decided this field of work. But that's beside the point. Do want to make the deal or not."

Angel tapped the end of her chopsticks against her lips in deep thought. "That doesn't sound too bad…as long as you feed me if I fail at cooking," she included.

Ichigo nodded before sticking his hand out. "Deal."

Angel grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. "Deal than."