Cupids' Choke-hold

Chapter 1: Paranoia Starts

The day was off to a beautiful start. The sky was a clear blue with hardly a cloud in its cover. The trees were swaying with the cool autumn breeze and the birds were singing morning to the world. The sun was bright and shinning, radiating its warming rays of heat to all in its presence. Days like these were well liked by many in Karakura town but strongly resented by a small others. Others say, like a certain orange head senior.

Ichigo Kurosaki lay hidden behind his covers scowling at the sudden change of atmosphere. He regret leaving his windows open wide the previous night to stargaze and was quickly trying to regain his sleep before he was fully awake. He was close to gaining it back when a sudden rapture of knocks attacked his door as his namesake came from the other side "Iiicchhhiiiigooooo!" Tans eyelids opened wide revealing truffle brown orbs. Ichigo shot right-up off his bed and grunted in annoyance, scowling at the light entering his room. Had the morning had a soul, he would penetrate it with his glare. He slammed the windows shut and curtained the scenic as a vein popped at his fathers constant knocking. "Wake-y wake-y Sleeping Beauty!"

Ichigo threw a textbook previously atop his bed-stand at the door to answer his consistent father with a loud bang. After a few moments of silence he regrettably left his bed to retrieve it from the floor and place it inside his school-bag. After making sure all he needed was inside, he grabbed a clean set of school clothes and opened his door. Sluggishly leaving his room he made his way down the hall towards the bathroom for his morning routine only to be assaulted by his father.

~O~0~o~0~O~

"Damn that old man." Ichigo said as he massaged his neck. "Attacking me while I'm in the mist of sleep." Retracing his hand back in his pocket he continued to stride beside his younger sisters. The eldest fraternal twin looked up at him with a smirk.

"That's what happens when you wake up later than usual; you leave the old man waiting," Her jet black hair slapped him as she faced forward, causing her pony tail to swing. "Besides," she said. "We don't need you to walk us to school. I'm more than capable of defending myself and Yuzu from danger." Ichigo sensed a hint of stubbornness from her tone of voice.

"I'm positive you can fend for yourself Karin, but with Yuzu around I'm sure it'll be twice as difficult." Ichigo stated bluntly. Yuzu turned to look at him and gave an apologetic smile. She turned around and Ichigo again only saw her dirty blond hair swing in low pig-tails. "Besides," he mimicked Karin. "You may be tough for a girl but you don't know what hormone driven boys are capable of." He cautiously looked around him making sure the male population around them was a safe distance away from his sisters.

Ever since Yuzu and Karin entered Middle School they had gained massive popularity with their peers; necessarily the boys. Since learning this, Ichigo took his proper role as an older brother seriously and walked them to and from school regularly. Every now and then though, there were brave souls who got too close to his sisters and felt Ichigo's wrath. Speaking of brave souls, Ichigo sensed a boy strolling too closely. 'Here comes another dumbass pervert.' Ichigo concluded.

The steps behind him grew closer and closer till Ichigo tensed for action. Finally the boy gained courage and attempted to dash around Ichigo, who in turn elbowed him in the ribs. The boy arched in pain and fell backwards. Placing his foot on the moaning boy's throat, Ichigo ministered one of his many glares and spoke in a threatening voice. "Next time you think about coming near one of my sisters you'll be paying a visit to our family clinic, got that punk!" The boy beneath his foot lost all color.

"What's going on now?" asked Karin, annoyance most definite in her voice. There was a crowd of her piers surrounding them, curious to their charade.

"Ichigo?" Yuzu popped up from behind Ichigo to look at what had happened; concern patent on her face.

At the sound of her voice did the boy beneath Ichigo's shoe squirm, desperately trying to escape the sole of his shoe. "Yuzu!" he cried. Ichigo, irked by the boy's stupidity – he had his foot down his neck and he still didn't get it? – put more force to quiet him. But at recognition of his voice and face did Yuzu shrill Ichigo's name.

"Ichigo!" She tried with all her might to remove her brother's leg from atop the boy. "Stop hurting Hanataro!" she demanded.

"Hanataro?" Ichigo asked confused. Complying with his sister's demand, he watched as she tended the gasping 'Hanataro". Yuzu always had a motherly nature but Ichigo didn't like the way his youngest sister tended the stranger as if they were very familiar. "What the hell's going on!"

Karin pulled her mildly confused brother from the forming scene and taped him in the head – hard. "You idiot." She stated before he had time to complain; Karin was unusually strong for a girl. "That's Hanataro Yamada; Yuzu's boyfriend." She said this as if pointing out the obvious.

Ichigo croaked. "Wha- Boyfriend?" He quickly spun his head towards Karin's direction and soon saw the connection between the two. He gave a menacing glare at Hanataro's head whilst telling Karin "She's too young to have a boyfriend; let alone think about having one."

Karin pulled him by the collar causing him to look down at her grim face. "No, Ichigo, she's not." She glanced at her sister and Ichigo followed her gaze. "As a matter of fact, they've been going out for a month already." Ichigo gaped. "She really cares for him and by the looks of it; he really cares for her too…enough to risk being discovered by you at least." Ichigo was about to protest when Karin returned her stern gaze to him. "Ichigo, we're not ten anymore. We're fourteen and growing up. Along the road to adulthood we're bound to get a boyfriend or fall in love sometime." Ichigo's mind soaked Karin's words like a sponge as he contemplated over her message. Then he realized: she was right. If he had to think back on these few past months, Yuzu had been acting out of the ordinary. 'Had this been the reason why?' Seeing the acceptance mold slowly into his features, Karin continued. "Besides," Ichigo slowly focused his eyes back onto Karin's face. "isn't it about time you find yourself a girlfriend?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious Ichigo!" Ichigo unlatched Karin's grip from his uniform. Ready to leave the scene behind him, he gathered his briefcase and said his routinely farewell to his sisters over his shoulder but she prodded on. "Yuzu and I are almost positive you've never experienced love let alone showed interest in a girl. We're both worried about you." Ichigo could hardly hear her last comment as she was nearly out of his hearing range. He smirked, thinking he could finally gain some peace of mind until she exclaimed "Dad's convinced you're gay!" Ichigo paused abruptly – too shocked for words – and then kept walking down the path to his high school.

Across the street he saw a girl step out of her house blushing a hue similar her hair. She was wearing his school's girl-uniform and seemed to be walking in the same direction as him. Her eyes kept twitching also, as if she were specifically trying to keep them from landing on something. Finally her brown orbs collided with his. She turned beet-red before his eyes and turned her goes to her shoes. Ichigo could only look away embarrassed in turn – she obviously heard his sisters outrages lines – and walked at a faster pace.

Then he heard a slight murmur into his ear and turned his head in every direction, searching for whatever mad e the sound. There was no one in sight though besides the still blushing auburn haired girl. Who could have hummed into his hear, Ichigo thought. It couldn't have bee a bug though because he literally felt like someone whispered a contemplative hum in his ear. Slightly paranoid, he decided to busy his mind other than strange voices in his head.

He thought back to his sisters and their claim of growing up. It was true he supposed; Karin was hardly playing soccer with her old guy friends and Yuzu was suddenly more into her appearance as a woman. They weren't the same little sisters he remembered so clearly in his mind, and it worried him a little. "We're worried about you." He remembered Karin's concern and smiled. "Dad's convinced you're gay!" The smile quickly faded to a permanent scowl.

"Gay my ass!" he said "Just cause I haven't dated a chick doesn't mean in interested in men!" Unbeknownst to him, Ichigo was shouting out loud. He looked around, searching discreetly for someone who could have heard him talking to himself only to catch sight of wide brown orbs. Blushing madly at her luck of catching his gaze twice in less than ten minutes, she foolishly looked away again. As regret took over her being, Ichigo wondered what was wrong her, more than once thinking she was weird. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he noticed he was almost late to homeroom. Walking in an even faster pace his sister's voice kept ringing in his mind "…you've never experienced love…"

Ichigo tsked. 'Love." He thought. Thinking the word, his mind related it's meaning with images of soap-opera's, shoujo-comics, chick-flicks and other girly things. "Yeah right." He mumbled. "Life can throw any obstacle my way and I'll overcome them but out of all my goals in life, love-" he belched at the though. "Love is the last thing on my mind." He finally entered his school gates and made it on time to homeroom whilst leaving a late auburn haired beauty to pick up his words with the gust of the wind.

She wasn't all that heard them though, as she wasn't alone. Indigo eyes observed her sad face as she scurried to homeroom at the ring of the bell. With a voice unheard to all it spoke above the fluttering of her wings "We'll see about that, Ichigo Kurosaki." Deep in his homeroom, shills ran down the spine of the spoken.

A.N. – I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter to "Cupid's Choke-hold" I enjoyed writing it.

This is an idea that sprung on me while I was in school and I couldn't get it out of my mind all day so here I am, starting a new fic. whilst my others are still un-updated. I decided to put those on HIATUS though until I can overcome my writers block for both and plan on focusing on this one for a while~ Chapter 2 is being written as we speak so I hope you all give this story a chance. Anyways, like with my other 2 fanfic's, I upload faster with the reviews above 3

~With love, Kittenkitt11~