Title: Hanabi-taikai

Author: Evil Day

Series: BLEACH

Pairing: IchigoxUryuu

Rating:PG-13

Summary: Takes place just after Soul Society arc, before the Bounto arc. The Obon festival is upon Karakura Town, and Onose River is THE place to be for the fireworks, and of course, the floating of paper lanterns on the last day. As such, this fic takes place in August. I know it isn't August at the end of Soul Society, but I want it to be. O Also, it might seem like RenjixIchigo in the beginning, but it's not. I promise.

Spoiler for everything up to the end of Soul Society arc and the beginning of the Bounto arc.


You're always on my mind

The rainbow that we saw alone,

The color of rejoicing…


"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime waved a tentative hand in front of Ichigo's face, wondering what he was looking for. "It's almost time for the fireworks! Let's go down to the riverbank."

"Yeah…okay…" Ichigo blinked, brows furrowed even deeper than they would have normally been. Shaking off his suspicion, he followed along behind his swiftly growing group of friends, glancing back through the crowd on the sidewalk. It couldn't have been Uryuu…especially not after the last conversation the two had shared. At least there had been a witness…


The previous day….

"Why is it that when I don't want to do something, Urahara finds some sort of reason to make it necessary?" Ichigo gritted his teeth through his words, shuffling his feet as contemptuously as possible.

Renji shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think…I'm just a freeloader to them. If I don't go, they'll feed me even less than they already do. I'm starving! Anyway…maybe Ishida will feed us…"

The two boys, both of them sullen and dragging their feet, made their way through the streets of Karakura in search of Uryuu's apartment, which Urahara had assured them existed.

"If you don't invite him to the festival like everyone else, he'll feel left out, don't you think?" Urahara had mused, keeping Ichigo's attention with a single, peering eye. "And anyway," he continued, shifting his darkened gaze over to Renji, sitting across from Ichigo and enjoying his dinner, "you haven't earned that meal yet, have you?"

The directions Urahara had given were just vague enough to be annoying, but within a few minutes the building he has described came into view. Ichigo paused, catching the glint of something in his eye, and he took a few steps back on the sidewalk and peered up into the second story window where he'd seen the sharp flash of light.

"Is that him?" Renji followed Ichigo's lead and moved towards the street, standing on the edge of the sidewalk next to Ichigo.

"I think so. Lucky, huh?"

"Are you sure?"

Instead of answering, Ichigo continued to stare upwards into the large window. There wasn't much visible from the street because of the glare of the late afternoon sun, but the apartment wasn't too high up, and he could just make out a dimly lit profile that looked too much like the Quincy to be coincidence.

"Yeah…that's him."

Renji held a hand over his eyes, squinting up at the apartment. "Does he always just sit by the window and stare?"

Ichigo chuckled deep in his chest, thinking about Uryuu in general and smiling. "Probably. Can he see us?"

If the figure in the window could see the boys gawking, it didn't let on.

"He's not moving…" Renji let his gaze drop down to his shoes, and he scanned the sidewalk until his eyes lit upon a small pebble. "Here, use this."

Ichigo glanced down to Renji's hand and frowned. "I'm not gonna throw stuff at his window! You throw it!"

Renji glared, temper rising just as quickly as Ichigo's. "No way! He's your friend!"

"He's not my friend!"

"Well, what is he, then?"

"He's…" Ichigo trailed off, wondering that very same thing himself. "He's…ugh! Forget it, just give me that rock!" The thought of a person he knew well enough and yet couldn't place caused a slight sort of discomfort to settle in Ichigo's mind, and in reaction to that he became angry and snatched the rock from Renji's slackened grip.

"Fine!" Renji sneered, and then decided to stare at something that was in the complete opposite direction as Ichigo. Not to be outdone, though, he kept one eye on the window in question, waiting to see if Ichigo would hit it or not.

Holding the tiny stone between his thumb and two fingers, Ichigo let it loose into the air. The pair watched as the rock flew up towards the building and hit the wall just a foot or so to the right of it's mark, and then bounced back to the earth. It landed on the sidewalk and tumbled around a bit before finally rolling to a stop in front of Renji's feet.

Renji scoffed loud enough for Ichigo to hear. "Hmph. As I expected. You couldn't even hit it."

Ichigo bit back his initial response and instead clenched his fists. When did Renji get to be so good at pushing his buttons? "Why did Urahara have to send you?"

Renji picked up the pebble and grinned at Ichigo. "Maybe because he knew you wouldn't be able to hit the window." Without waiting for a response, Renji threw the rock, and this time it hit it's target. It struck the window with a soft tap and fell back to the ground.

The argument forgotten, both Ichigo and Renji stood silent and still, and watched as the figure behind the window finally moved. The window was pushed open, and Uryuu poked his head out and gazed calmly at the two boys on the sidewalk.

"Well. That took longer than I expected."

"It is him!" Renji, evidently having missed the Quincy's less than enthusiastic greeting, smiled up at him and waved cheerfully. "Hey, Ishida!"

Ichigo watched Renji with a raised orange eyebrow. "Why are you so happy?"

Renji answered back through the side of his mouth, never breaking his friendly face. "Shut up and start smiling. I'm betting he's got food up there."

"Hey, Uryuu!" Ichigo held his hand up in the air momentarily. "We need to talk to you!"

Uryuu's bland face held nothing but the slightest curiosity, from what Ichigo could see. He said nothing, and instead stared down at Ichigo and Renji, apparently waiting for something.

"…What?"

"What do you mean, what?" I said we want to talk to you!" Ichigo wasn't sure if Uryuu might try to make him yell everything from out on the street, but he wasn't about to.

"Can we come up?" Renji's enthusiasm must have reached Uryuu intact, because he frowned slightly before turning away from the pair and nodding. "Fine. I'll leave the door open."

Wide open, Ichigo thought as he and Renji dashed up the steps to the second floor hallway. The second door within sight from the stairwell was left hanging open, but there was no sign of Uryuu. Ichigo thought that perhaps he might still be staring out the window, and one corner of his mouth turned itself upward.

Renji was the first to enter, and as Ichigo followed he looked all over the tiny apartment, feeling a bit overwhelmed at the starkness of it. It was completely white and barren, save for a small piece of furniture here and there, including the tiny wooden table and two chairs positioned right in front of the open window. Uryuu sat in one of those chairs, and his expressionless gaze was now fixed on Renji and Ichigo.

"Did you need something from me?"

"Well…not exactly." Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, messing up the strawberry locks even more than they were before. "Oh, Renji does." He grinned, and then jabbed Renji in the gut.

"Ah…yeah…do you…have any extra food…around here?" Renji rubbed the back of his neck, smiling hopefully and widely.

Uryuu blinked. "That's why you two came over here?"

"No…" Ichigo pulled out the chair opposite Uryuu and sat down in it backwards, leaning his folded arms over the back of the chair. "Urahara is starving Renji to death. If you tell him he can eat, he'll go away."

"Oh…" Uryuu pointed toward the refrigerator in the kitchen. "Help yourself."

Renji disappeared immediately, and Uryuu met Ichigo's eyes with a pointed stare. "What's going on?"

Ichigo was at a loss as to how he ought to invite the other boy to join his family and friends in the festivities. He hadn't had to ask anyone else. He and his family would go, of course, and Keigo had insisted that he would join them. And of course, when Keigo said that he would come, he meant he himself, along with Mizuiro, Chado, Orihime, Tatsuki, and whoever else would listen to him speak.

Ichigo was basically just along for the ride. But Uryuu had no one. Urahara had explained the situation in just enough detail to make Ichigo wonder, but not enough to clarify much. Ever the puppet master, Urahara had simply expressed that Uryuu lived alone, for undisclosed reasons, and since Obon was a family holiday, he had no one to celebrate it with.

"Nothing's going on…well…see…everyone's going down to see the fireworks tomorrow, you know? And I was thinking…you can come with us."

Uryuu visibly stiffened. "I can come with you?"

Ichigo smiled. "Of course."

Uryuu's tone changed, and it caught Ichigo off guard. "I see. You two came all this way to let me know that I'm allowed to go with you tomorrow. Wonderful."

Ichigo's jaw fell open before he could think of anything to say. "What the hell? I didn't mean it like that, I just thought that you might want to."

"Well, you should have asked me that."

"Asked you what? If you wanted to go with us?" Ichigo had half a mind to reach over the table and knock Uryuu right out of his chair. He hated it when Uryuu caught him in a technicality, as he usually did, but Ichigo knew he was avoiding the question itself. "Fine. Do you want to come with us tomorrow night?"

Uryuu turned his head to the side and stared at the wall. "I'd rather not."

That was it.

Ichigo slammed his palms down on the table, noticing in the back of his mind that Uryuu flinched slightly, which was odd of him. However, he was far too angry to put any thought into it at the moment and pushed himself up from the chair.

"Why not?"

"…I'm busy."

Ichigo laughed out loud. "No, you're not! What do you have to do, stare out the window some more?"

Uryuu's eyes narrowed, and he stood up as well. "It's none of your business." His tone was cool and smooth, but his stance alone betrayed his defensive mindset.

"It is now! Because Renji and I came here to invite you, and if you're gonna decline, you have to at least tell me why!" Regardless of the sinking feeling that told him he was going too far, Ichigo pressed on, his pride injured. "You don't have anything better to do! And I know you don't have anyone to go with! Just suck it up and realize that I'm doing you a favor and accept it already! I'm trying to be nice!"

"Ichigo…" Renji's cautious voice drifted in from what sounded like far away, and Ichigo turned to see him with a reserved expression, holding a half-eaten bowl of leftover rice. "Maybe he doesn't want to."

"Your Shinigami friend is correct." Uryuu drew his legs together and stood tall and unwavering, arms hanging by his sides stiffly. "Maybe I just don't want to go with you."

"With me." It wasn't a question, and Uryuu didn't answer, anyway. Ichigo shook his head.

"Whatever…Renji, we're leaving."

Renji followed Ichigo out of the apartment, then thought better of it and leaned his head back into the open door. "Thanks for the food!"

Uryuu slammed the door shut.

The walk back to Urahara Shoten was uncomfortably silent, at least for Renji. Ichigo walked a bit dejectedly, and he could still taste his anger in the back of his throat. He ignored it and concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other.

No one spoke for a long while, until Renji decided he couldn't hold onto the question any longer.

"Why him?"

Ichigo didn't look up. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Renji planned his words carefully. He didn't mind the occasional screaming match with Ichigo, but somehow this felt different. "Why is it that you only act like that around him?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo brought his eyes up to Renji's, honestly confused. "I just got mad."

"Yeah…but it's different, somehow. When you fight with everyone else, it feels like…like a play fight. Like you don't really mean it. There's no feeling behind it. The only fights you seem to really put anything into are the ones with him."

Ichigo chose not to respond.

"…Did something happen? Between you two, I mean?"

"…No."

Renji decided to leave it alone. It wasn't any of his business, anyway.


"Come on, Ichi-nii, hurry!" Karin waved Ichigo over as she ran down the grass towards the riverbank. "They're just about to start!"

Everyone was halfway down the hill but Ichigo, and he spared one final glance in the direction of the street before taking off at a run after his friends and family. It couldn't have been him.


End part 1

And I don't know how many parts there are. I just know that there's more than one, lol. Anyway, R&R? Thanks so much!