Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Bleach.

~ Chapter 1

It was a cool and quiet night. Orihime Inoue was on her way to the place where she needed to go. He had sent her a message five minutes earlier saying that he needed to tell her something in person. She didn't understand why he didn't tell her earlier but she brushed it off.

The children's park was not far from her apartment complex and it didn't take her long to get there. She saw a familiar figure sitting on the swing and quietly approached the person.

"Ichigo?"

He jumped a little, startled by her quiet arrival. He stood up and faced her. "Hey, sorry for calling you out this late."

She slightly smiled. "It's alright. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Ichigo was silent for a moment, putting his hands in his pockets and trying to figure out how to start. He didn't want to hurt her feelings about what was coming at her.

Orihime waited. She felt fine at first, but it felt like someone slapped her when he spoke.

"We can't see each other anymore Orihime."

She looked at the orange-haired boy with a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "My father is taking the job offer in the United States. They offered him a satisfying amount of income per month."

"W-why didn't you tell me this earlier?" She asked. She realized that Ichigo was quiet the whole day during school earlier. This was probably why he was so off today.

"I just thought that it would hurt you even more if I told you during school." He didn't look at her. "I didn't want to see you cry during class hours."

She stayed silent for a moment. So many thoughts went through her mind. The boy that she loved so much was leaving her. Why? Why leave now when things were so perfect between them? "When will you be leaving?" She felt a lump in her throat when she spoke.

"Tomorrow night," he said.

She felt like she was going to burst out in tears. Tomorrow night? She had a mere twenty-four hours left to spend time with him. She didn't want Ichigo to leave. What if she could convince him not to go—

No. That was a selfish thing to do. She wasn't selfish. And Ichigo knew that.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks. She didn't have any other choice but to let him leave with his family. It was for the best, even though it hurt so much.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Orihime, I'm not doing this just because I'm moving away. I'm doing this because I'm not capable of being with you when we're millions of miles apart."

She cried on his chest, taking in every word he told her.

"I know you're upset, I didn't intend for this to happen; just know that I will love you no matter what."

And they both stood there, Ichigo holding Orihime tightly while she cried in his arms.

The next day, Ichigo didn't go to school. He was probably doing last minute packing. She sighed, holding back the tears that wanted to leave her eyes. She didn't want to start crying in front of her friends that were set out in front of her. It was lunch and everyone was making plans about a ski trip for spring break.

"…and we can rent out a cabin for us to stay in." Rukia said as she popped a rice ball in her mouth.

"I think staying in the resort would be better. Renting a cabin is twice the hotel fee." Renji said. "Plus we would have room service and all, unlike being in a cabin."

Rukia pouted. "But I wanted to stay in a cabin."

Renji pinched her cheek. "You're so cute when you pout." She was about to smack his hand away from her face but Renji removed his hand just in time. "So feisty."

"That's why you love me," she said.

Renji finally had the guts to tell Rukia his feelings a few months back. He was afraid that he would reject her but it turns out she felt the same way towards him. They've been dating for quite a while now, and they seem to be very happy with each other.

"What do you think, Orihime?" Rukia questioned her.

Orihime was pulled away from her thoughts. "Oh, I think it's a good idea." She looked down at her untouched lunch.

"Is something wrong? You haven't touched your lunch."

"I'm fine." She smiled at both of them to make sure they believed her. But it didn't work.

Orihime was bad at lying. The smile she tried to give them turned into a frown. Her lips started to tremble and tears started to escape through her eyes.

Rukia hugged the crying girl and Renji just watched, not knowing what to do.

"It's alright, Orihime. Let it out." Rukia said softy.

Did they know what happened? Did they know that Ichigo was leaving her? How long did they know? So many questions ran through her mind. But those questions didn't matter anymore. She just sat there, crying and having Rukia's arms around her. Ichigo was leaving in less than ten hours. There was nothing she could do about it.

AN: I'm working on the next chapter and I'll try updating every weekend.

Reviews are highly appreciated! It would also be awesome if you guys would let me know what you want to happen/should happen. c:

Thanks for reading! xx