A/N: So, I all of a sudden had this huge urge to start writing this story because the idea has been running around in my head for quite some time now and I really wanted to start writing this and see how it went and honestly, I'm pretty proud of how the first chapter came out. As you may or may not have noticed on my profile, this is probably going to only be four or five chapters long, but nonetheless I'm very excited to see what you guys think. :)
Disclaimer: Neither Toshiro nor Ichigo or even anything Bleach belongs to me, all Kubo's.
"I'm... I'm sorry, I can't… be seen with you anymore..." The boy said slowly as he stood right outside the other teenager's front door. It was pitch black out and the sky looked like it was about to storm, but hadn't quite gotten to that point yet.
"Why…? We've been friends for years… and now you're telling me that just because of this guy you started dating not even a month ago, we can't even be friends…? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Another boy yelled from his position just inside the house.
"I don't have a choice!" The other yelled right back on the verge of tears.
"Yes, you do! Just dump that good for nothing creep! I never even understood why you started going out with him in the first place! He's no good for you!"
"How would you know! You haven't spent more than an hour with him since we started going out!"
"I just know… okay…?" The boy inside the house muttered quietly. "I know the kind of guy he is, and you just gotta trust me…" The other said nothing so he continued. "If you don't believe me then just think about why you're here right now!"
"I'm here because you're important to me and I don't want to see you getting hurt!"
"Yea, it's a little too late for that…" He mumbled. "I'm just begging for you to think this through a little more…"
That seemed to throw the younger male over the edge as huge, pearly white tears started flowing from his large teal eyes. "YOU DON'T THINK I'VE THOUGHT THIS THROUGH! YOU DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS I'VE DONE IN MY LIFE? I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE-!"
"WHAT ABOUT YOURSELF, HUH?" The larger male loudly interrupted. "Are you truly happy with this decision…?" It was hard to miss the desperation in the larger male's voice as he tried to place his hand comfortingly on the other's shoulder. The young boy right outside the door didn't answer right away; of course, he would ask the one question that the tear streaked teenager hadn't quite been able to answer himself yet. Slowly, he attempted to brush the tears from his own eyes as he gazed upwards and his cool teal met a warm chocolate brown.
"Y-Yes…" he said shakily. "I am."
The second the words left the other's lips, the one standing just inside felt as though his heart had just shattered into a million pieces so small that it would take years to put them all back together. That was it… it was over.
"I see…"All emotion that was previously present was now gone, his tone was monotonous and in a way… dead. "I guess this is goodbye then… … though can I just ask one question before you go?"
"What?"
"Why? Why him…?"
"B-Because…. I… I love him."
"How could you love such a monster…?"
"You wouldn't understand!" The smaller male yelled and as if on cue, at that moment the sky decided to tear open and very soon the younger male outside was soaked as the rain started to pound down on his small form. "HE LOVES ME AND… AND… I LOVE HIM TOO!" Not being able to stand there a moment longer, the smaller male took one last glance at the broken and betrayed face above him uttering a quick, "I'm sorry, Ichigo…" before quickly whirling around and dashing out into the unrelenting rain that fit the atmosphere so perfectly it was almost uncanny.
It took a few seconds for the strawberry to process exactly what had just happened. He couldn't let things end like this… he just couldn't.
"TOSHIRO…! WAIT!" He called desperately into the storm, when he received no answer he bolted out into storm without a second thought. Unfortunately, no matter how fast or how far he ran, the rain refused to reveal the young white-haired boy he so desperately needed to find, wishing all the time that he had been able to tell the younger male what he knew he should have in the first place, "I'm sorry, Toshiro."
xx
The next second, Ichigo found himself bolting up right in bed trying to remember when it was that he had fallen asleep. He remembered that he had gone out and partied with his friends last night, it was their way of trying to keep his mind off of a particular someone that never seemed to leave his thoughts. Not only that, but they were also savoring the last bit of summer vacation they could; school was starting up in a little less than a week and not a single one of them were the least bit ready to go back and be forced to give up their freedom to do whatever the hell they wanted, whenever the hell they wanted. Like for instance, going out on the town and partying till three in the morning in the middle of the week.
Trying to shake off the oncoming hangover he knew was coming, Ichigo slowly shook off his covers and stumbled across the room towards his dresser where he knew that he would be able to find some much needed aspirin. Once he had swallowed the pills and walked back over promptly slouching right back onto his bed before glancing over at the clock on his bedside table.
Hmmm… 2:30… Slept later than usual… Ichigo thought dismissively to himself. With nothing else to occupy his mind, he felt his thoughts drifting back to the dream he had been having before he woke up… well, I guess dream per say, wasn't the best choice of words… memory would probably be better used to describe the moment that had been haunting the strawberry for the good part of the two years since that night.
God dammit, Toshiro. Why… why can't I stop thinking about you…?
Well, that's obvious. You're still in love with him. Duh!
It was true though; that wasn't something Ichigo was even going to try and deny. About the last year or so the strawberry had been hanging out with the young genius he had started feeling something new… something way more than just a simple bond between best friends and it wasn't until the moment after Toshiro ran out of his life that he finally realized his feelings for the boy; but it didn't matter anymore… it was too late. The prodigy obviously didn't feel that same way and that was just something that he had learned to deal with, but never quite accepted. He was always hoping that by some infinitesimal chance, Toshiro would realize that he didn't love Gin and that he had made a terrible mistake in choosing the creepy fox-face over himself, then run back to him and telling him how he had loved him all along… but that kind of stuff only happened in the movies, right?
"Ichi-nii! Are you awake yet? Dad wants to know if you want to come to the movies with us!" Ichigo's younger sister Yuzu, called from below. Ichigo casually strolled over towards where there was a small hatch-like door in the floor that led downstairs; you see Ichigo lived in the attic of the Kurosaki household. It wasn't like he had been banished up there or anything of it sort, he just liked his room and his privacy. The room itself was huge considering it was all just one big room with no walls separating anywhere from anywhere else and gave Ichigo all the space he ever wanted to do whatever without the worry of someone accidentally wandering into his room unexpectedly.
"It's not one of your chic-flicky romances, is it?" Ichigo asked warily. The last thing he wanted on his mind right now was anything that had to do with some stupid movie romance or anything of that sort.
"Nope." Yuzu called back half-heartedly. "I chose the movie last time so this times it's Karin's choice and that huge action movie that she's been talking about for forever for just came out, so I would think that we are probably going to go see that."
Good. If Karin is choosing today then I don't have anything to worry about watching any mushy stuff; she hates romances even more than I do. Not to mention, I don't even want to think what's going to happen if I stay up here all day by myself… scratch that, I'd go crazy, that's what I'd do. "Okay." He finally called back down to Yuzu. "Just give me a second to change before you guys rush out the door, will ya?"
"Great!" She called back, "I'll go tell Karin and dad you're coming. Just don't take too long, okay? You know how Karin hates waiting when she has a destination in mind."
After shutting his door, Ichigo walked back over towards his dresser and pulled out whatever shirt he could get his hands on first before continuing to put on a pair of jeans that unlike the ones he was wearing didn't smell like alcohol, smoke and whatever else had managed to permeate its material the previous night. As he was changing shirts he went over towards the only window in the attic and saw the other Kurosaki's crowded around the family car. Ichigo had just stepped away from the small window when all of a sudden he heard Yuzu's voice again, but this time she wasn't, as he had originally thought, talking to him.
"Good afternoon, Hitsugaya-kun!" She called cheerfully, catching the young boy off guard and causing him to jump slightly.
Ichigo was back at the window in less than a second; it couldn't really be… could it? But, just like Yuzu had said, there was… standing frozen right in front of the Kurosaki household, none other than Toshiro Hitsugaya. Ichigo couldn't believe his eyes… even after only seeing glimpses of the boy for two long years, he was still as breathtakingly beautiful as ever before. His short and fluffy white hair that smelled like freshly fallen snow, his large teal eyes that had always been able to melt Ichigo on the spot and of course his slim and slender figure that the genius despised so much because it made him look like he should be in elementary school instead of high school. But then, the image shattered when Ichigo saw that as always, he wasn't alone. Practically glued to his side was the man that had taken Toshiro away from him so unexpectedly… Gin Ichimaru.
Ichigo could only stare at the boy he loved, knowing that it would never be. He wished that he could run downstairs and outside and sweep the young prodigy off his feet and declare his love for him; but as much as he wanted to, he knew he would never get the outcome he desired. Toshiro opened his mouth as though he was about to reply to the youngest Kurosaki, but instead shifted his gaze ever so slightly from the three people in front of him, up. Up towards the highest window on the small building, right behind where Ichigo happened to be standing, still awestruck. For the smallest of instants the two boys looked straight into each other's eyes, Toshiro's eyes widening when he realized who exactly was standing beyond the window he was gazing at so intently.
Without any warning or any kind of notice, Toshiro's eyes were ripped from the strawberry as Gin suddenly hauled him down the street with a clear scowl decorating his long face and then a few seconds later the pair completely disappearing from Ichigo's view.
Another week came and went and Ichigo hadn't seen Toshiro since the day he had gone out to the movies with the rest of his family. Today was the first day back at school and Ichigo found that he was in a worse mood than usual… he had overslept and so he hadn't had enough time to shower, so he ended up just throwing on whatever clothes he could find before sprinting downstairs to grab a really quick breakfast. The strawberry had gotten all the way to the end of the street when he realized that he had forgotten to pack all of his new books in his backpack and had to run back to the house and switch out his books from last year with books for the new year before finally being able to get on his way. After almost full out sprinting the rest of the way to school, Ichigo finally got to the building mere minutes before the bell rang to signal everyone to go to their first class. His first class was math and it was probably the one class this semester that he absolutely despised. Ichigo was never much of a numbers guy, but had always been able to pass in the end because he would always beg Toshiro, or someone else more recently, to help him study for the final.
"Yo, Ichigo!" Someone called out suddenly as the strawberry had finished putting everything away in his locker. He turned around to see a whole group of people walking towards him. Renji led the pack, followed closely behind by Rukia, Rangiku and Hisagi.
"Hey guys." Ichigo replied as he shut his locker and turned around to greet his friends. Ichigo noticed that both Rangiku and Hisagi were lagging behind quite a bit more than anyone else.
"What happened to them?" He asked Renji as he tried to suppress a slight chuckle at the sight of the two teenagers.
"The two genius's over there decided that they would end their summer with a bang and went over to a party at Gin's place last night and got drunk off their asses." The redhead laughed. "They've got major hangovers and I've been laughing at them practically all morning."
"So, I'm guessing that you and Rukia decided to pass on the festivities then?"
"We made some festivities of our own." Renji smirked as he put an arm around Rukia's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Rukia and Renji had been dating on and off for the past year or so and judging by what he had seen, Ichigo thought it was pretty safe to conclude that as of right now they were back on. Who knew how long it would last though? One time, Renji and Rukia had gotten back together and broken up again all in a span of a few days; so no-one really knew how long the couple would stay together.
"What class do you have first, Ichigo?" Rukia asked curiously.
"Math…" Ichigo groaned. "How about you guys?"
"Both Renji and I have history together and I think Rangiku suckered Hisagi into taking some sort of literature class." Rukia replied before Renji had a chance to open his mouth.
Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at this; everyone but Rangiku knew that Hisagi had a massive crush on said strawberry blonde and whether she knew it or not, she was always convincing him to do the craziest things with her because of it. Like for example, getting wasted at a party the night before school started, or perhaps taking a literature class that boys like him really had no business being in in the first place.
The bell rang loudly, which caused Rangiku and Hisagi to gasp and clutch their sensitive heads trying to stop the pounding; then Renji and Rukia proceeded to say goodbye to Ichigo before heading off in the direction of their history class.
Ichigo figured he might as well make his way towards his class as well, but couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. He had somehow always managed to get one of his friends in his math class before, whether it was Renji, Rukia or even that smartass, Ishida.
Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make do. Ichigo thought casually to himself as he approached the classroom he would be confined to for the next hour and a half. The bell ran right as he entered the classroom and he quickly sat down in the back where there were only two empty chairs. Sitting down swiftly and grabbing his notebook out of his bag, he surveyed the room and as he had feared before he didn't know a single person in the class. Oh well, who needs to pass math anyway?
The rest of the day seemed to just blur together in dull haze and Ichigo was beyond the point of simple relief when he finally was able to venture back out into the warm and much more welcoming, sunny day. Ichigo, Renji and Rukia had planned during lunch to walk home together because Renji lived just down the street from Ichigo and Rukia was planning on spending the afternoon at Renji's, but when he arrived at their usual meeting spot neither the redhead nor the short black-haired teenager were to be found. Ichigo looked down at his watch, Wow… and I thought I was the one that was going to be late… Rukia is usually the most prompt of us all anyway…
In the time that Ichigo was able to scan all the students happily talking and laughing amongst themselves, the strawberry felt a slight buzz from his pants pocket and withdrew his cellphone to find a message from none other than one of his MIA friends.
Rukia not feeling well, gonna take her home. Sorry man.
Brilliant. Ichigo thought to himself as he sent a quick text back to Renji before walking out towards the school ground exit. He decided to take his time getting home because he really didn't have any other plans for the rest of the day so he might as well enjoy the nice weather while he could.
Ichigo approached a small intersection that wasn't really used all that much anymore, but it was usually a pretty good place for pedestrians to cross because very few cars frequented it. The strawberry approached the intersection noticing that there was only one other person and Ichigo had been just in the process of stepping out into the intersection when something caught the corner of his eye. A pair or what looked like extremely expensive sports cars were driving with incredible speed towards the exact intersection where he had been just about to walk into. Though, the funny thing was that even with the engines revving loudly and both men hollering obscenities at each other, the boy who was already half-way out into the street at this point hadn't, for who knew what reason, seemed to notice the impeding cars yet.
"WATCH OUT!" Ichigo yelled as he found himself racing out into the intersection and practically tackling the younger male to the ground not even a second before the two drivers flew past them, completely oblivious to the fact that they had almost nearly mowed down two teenagers.
A loud shout brought Ichigo back to his senses as he realized that he was still clutching onto the boy he had pulled off the road a split second earlier.
"S-Sorry." Ichigo muttered before finally being able to see the person's face of whom he had just tackled. "Are you oka- T…Toshiro?"
"Ichigo…" the younger boy whispered, clearly as confused if not more than the strawberry. Ichigo instantly tried to untangle himself from the smaller male, but instantly froze when he heard the other suddenly gasp in what was either surprise or pain… or both.
"S-Sorry about the whole tackling you…" he apologized nervously; hoping that he hadn't accidentally injured the boy, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"I'm fine." Toshiro replied all too quickly for the strawberry's liking.
"You didn't sound fine a second ago."
"I already told you… I'm fine." Finally, Ichigo was able to get back up on his feet and extended his hand towards Toshiro in an attempt to help the boy up, but the hand was slapped away as the genius slowly got to his feet and started to shift his feet nervously. "I…I should be getting home…"
Ichigo knew that he might not ever get this chance to be along with Toshiro again and he also knew that if he let the boy leave just like that, then he would sorely regret it later. "Wait... you don't have to go right now do you?" he asked hopefully.
"Actually… I kind of do." Toshiro muttered softly.
"Yea, yea… I know, I know. You don't want your precious Gin to see us together…" Ichigo stated rather bluntly. "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay… despite the fact you no longer want anything to do with me, I still care about you." He smiled.
Toshiro's eyes widened in surprise and possibly …regret? But as fast as it had appeared, it was gone and Toshiro had his cool mask of calmness back upon his face. "I never said that!"
"Maybe not in those exact words, but I can read into things, despite what some people may think."
"You haven't changed a bit, Ichigo."
"Neither have you." The strawberry chuckled.
Toshiro sighed; there had always been something about Ichigo that made things between the two feel so natural… guess that hadn't changed either. Somehow the strawberry had something about him, whether it was something he always said or did that just made talking to him and relating to him so much easier than with anyone else. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you did for me just now, but don't think this changes anything…"
"We'll see about that." Ichigo chucked. "I did just save you from being a pancake, so don't you think I should be able to see if you're doing okay after the fact?"
"You're impossible."
"I know."
After the brief encounter with Toshiro, Ichigo had been in exceedingly high spirits for the rest of the day and he even was still feeling the effects of finally being able to talk to Toshiro for the first time in two years, after he awoke the next morning. He had gotten up at least an hour earlier than usual and even decided to make breakfast for everyone even though Yuzu would usually be the one preparing breakfast normally.
"Wow. You seem to be in a really good mood today, Ichi-nii. It's not usually like you to be the first one out of bed. Usually, you're the last." Yuzu giggled as she wandered into the kitchen.
"Yea, I don't know. I just have this feeling that today is going to be one of the best days I've had in awhile."
"Well, that's good to hear! Karin was starting to talk about something having to do with 'beating some life back into you' if you didn't cheer up soon and even though dad doesn't show it, he's been worried too." Yuzu finished as she sat down on the opposite side of the kitchen island than usual and started eating the eggs and pancakes that her brother had already made. "Wow, Ichigo! These are delicious!" She cried cheerfully.
"Glad you like um. I just tried to do everything that you do when I watch you cook sometimes in the morning." Ichigo replied a slight blush making its way into his face as he explained his sudden talent for cooking breakfast. Ichigo continued chatting with Yuzu for awhile about nothing in particular when Karin and Isshin both stumbled downstairs.
"Why exactly am I even up right now… I'm not the one who has to go to school." Isshin muttered sleepily as he trudged over towards the coffee maker.
"Idiot." Karin quickly replied. "Don't you want to make sure your children get safely off to school like a normal father?"
"I'm a great father! Right my darling Yuzu?" Isshin yelled as he rushed over towards where Yuzu was finishing up her breakfast.
"Riiiight." Karin replied before Yuzu had even looked up.
Ichigo's gaze just so happened to land on the small wall clock across the room from him when he realized that he had to leave to school within the next few minutes unless he wanted to be late.
"Well, I think I'm gonna go up and change then head off to school."
"Okay!" Yuzu called after her brother from her place still in the kitchen. "Hope you have a good day, Ichi-nii!"
"So do I." said boy muttered to himself as he continued up the stairs to his bedroom.
So far, the day hadn't been exactly going as well as it had started. Ichigo did manage to get to school on time, but then he had tried using the few free minutes he had to see if he could find a certain white-haired boy, but found himself running into a certain redhead instead.
"Sorry Renji, but I'm kinda busy right now." Ichigo apologized as he kept walking down one of the school's congested hallways.
"Doing what exactly? Cause it looks like you're just randomly wandering the halls trying to avoid me…" Renji grunted as he followed the strawberry that was currently weaving in and out of the crowd.
"I'm not really avoiding you, as much as I'm looking for someone else." Ichigo muttered as he continued trying to stand on his toes so that he could attempt to see over the large crowd of people.
"And who exactly are you looking for…?" Ichigo didn't answer, knowing exactly what the redhead would say if he did, but of course Renji would find out either way, so it was really a lose-lose situation for the strawberry.
"It's Toshiro isn't it…?" Renji groaned. "Comon Ichigo… you just need to accept the fact that Toshiro doesn't belong in your life anymore; he's with Gin, end of story." Ichigo sudden ceased all searching so that he could turn around and give his full attention to his supposed best friend.
"Well, you know what, Renji?" Ichigo hissed. "I can't. I've tried for the past two years to accept that fact and you know what? I can't, I just can't." Then, without another word Ichigo stormed away from the still dazed looking Renji deciding that his search would be more promising anywhere that Renji wasn't.
Ichigo hadn't had much luck for the remainder of the time before school started on his search for Toshiro and now was slowly walking towards his math class. Oh boy, the day is just getting better and better… Where else could Toshiro have been this morning…? I know he still goes to this school because I've caught glimpses of him over the past two years... Ichigo started counting on his fingers all the places he had checked that morning. I checked all the men's bathrooms, I checked the library, I checked the cafeteria and I must have run through the hallways at least five times... The strawberry hung his head in defeat as he entered his math classroom and saw that the entirety of the class was already in their seats, talking happily with the people around them while the teacher was busy at their desk trying to grade papers. The whole classroom seemed bursting with energy, well… except for one corner of the room where one person was lazily gazing out the classroom window; a young boy with… snow-white hair.
"Toshiro!" Ichigo called suddenly, startling the boy out of his daze as he rushed over his desk, haphazardly dropping all this things onto the conveniently empty desk next to the boy.
"I-Ichigo… what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like? Getting ready for class. Duhh." The strawberry laughed. "And I should be asking you the same thing. How come if you are in this class as you say, then why didn't I see you yesterday?"
For the slightest of a second, something made the young genius's whole body freeze up, but whether it was something that he had said or just some random thought that had crossed his mind he didn't know; but Ichigo could tell that Toshiro's body continued to tense as he seemed determine to look everywhere in the room except to make eye contact with him. "I uh- wasn't really… feeling good; so I wasn't able to make it."
"But then, I saw you after school…" Ichigo reasoned, the unsettling feeling in his stomach refusing to subside.
"Y-Yea… It wasn't so bad in the afternoon, so I just came after lunch…" Toshiro muttered, unconsciously pulling down on the lengthy sleeves of his shirt. "Ichigo… we really shouldn't be doing this…"
"Doing what? I just wanted to ask you how you were feeling considering I saved you from being a pancake the other day." The strawberry countered as he tried to keep his tone casual.
"I already told you yesterday, you caught me by surprise and that's why I yelled. Thanks, but I'm fine."
"I am curious about one thing…" Ichigo said as he desperately tried to keep the conversation going, but when Toshiro stayed silent he had no choice but to continue without the other prompting him. "How come your beloved Gin wasn't with you yesterday to save you from getting mowed down by those cars? I think I've only seen you without him like twice in the past two years."
"He's out of town for the week… wouldn't tell me why. He just said that something came up that he had to check out and vanished a few days ago."
"Not that I care, but it just seems odd, don't ya think?"
"It's really none of your business, Ichigo." Toshiro grunted.
"Yea, I guess you're right." Ichigo laughed nervously. "Sorry, Toshiro."
Luckily for Ichigo, before the awkward silence could set in the tardy bell rang and the teacher stood up before calling the class to order and starting on the lesson. It was a pretty boring lesson from Ichigo's point of view. Not to say that it was easy, oh no, he was bored for the simple fact that he had absolutely no idea what the teacher was talking about.
"Toshiro… hey, Toshiro…! Heeeeey!" Ichigo whispered persistently until the young genius finally turned to face him with an annoyed scowl on his face.
"What…!" the boy hissed as he momentarily looked away from the problem that he had just finished writing in his notebook.
"How do you solve problem 5?"
"We've been working for fifteen minutes and you've only gotten five problems done?" Toshiro asked in disbelief when he gazed down at his own paper seeing that at the bottom of the page where his most recent problem had a small, elegantly written 23.
"Well…" Ichigo laughed. "I actually skipped number three, because it looks like gibberish."
"Wow…. Your math skills are as good as ever, by the looks of it." Toshiro managed a small smile when he thought back to when he and Ichigo had still been tight and he had always gone home with the strawberry practically every day to help him with his math homework.
"Well, considering there is only fifteen more minutes in class and I know you'll never be able to explain all this to me in that short period of time, why don't you stop by my place after school and you can help me. You know, kinda like old times." Toshiro was about open his mouth to shoot down the idea when Ichigo beat him to it. "And then before you say 'we shouldn't be doing this' just think about it, okay? Don't worry about Gin. You said he was out of town right…? So you got nothing to worry about, yea?"
Toshiro sat frozen on the spot for what seemed like forever. He knew that this was a bad idea… it had catastrophe written all over it. Then again… Ichigo had a point. Gin was out of town, he would never have to know about this one visit to the Kurosaki household; it wasn't like it was going to become a common occurrence either.
"Fine. What time do you want me to come over?" Toshiro whispered. He knew he was going to regret it, but then there was just something about it that just seemed right despite it being so wrong.
The rest of the day was significantly less eventful as Ichigo spent what seemed like every second until the bell rang thinking how the hell he had convinced Toshiro Hitsugaya, the boy that had been avoiding him like the plague for the past two years, to come over to his house for a study date well- maybe it wasn't a date officially… he was still regrettably in a relationship with Gin, but just the simple fact of being able to spend some quality time with the boy for the first time in forever was more than he had ever hoped.
Being careful to make sure he packed everything thing that he would need for the afternoon, Ichigo shot out of the school like a rocket being sure he made it back to his house in time for him to get everything ready and also to make sure that his family didn't make complete fools of themselves while Toshiro was over, which was a very real possibility considering the person he had for a father.
He arrived home in record time and rushed upstairs to change and then rocketed into the kitchen to try and find something that he could serve as a snack so that they had something to munch on while they worked, or more than likely, while Ichigo worked on finishing his homework.
"You throwing some sort of party today, Ichigo?" Karin asked as she walked in the door with Yuzu right behind her.
"Ooh! Ichi-nii you look very nice today! Are you having a certain special someone come over today?" Yuzu giggled as she watched a very subtle red tinge make its way onto her brother's face. Yuzu always seemed to be able to read her older brother like an open book and always had a habit of knowing exactly how he was feeling at any given time just by seeing how he looked or what he was doing. She must have gotten it from their late mother because Masaki always had that gift when it came to any of her children as well.
"You got me, Yuzu." Ichigo chuckled and was cut off from anything else he might have said by the sudden shrill ringing of the doorbell. The strawberry's heart started racing, there was doubt in his mind who was on the other side the front door and for a split second he felt as though his feet had been glued to the floor and he wouldn't be able to move even if he wasn't frozen to the spot. Ichigo didn't think he had ever felt this nervous about anything in his entire life and he really had no idea why… he was just having an old friend over to help him study. An old friend that you have wished for the past two years was more than just your friend.
"Aren't you gonna go get that, Ichigo?" Karin asked, one of her eyebrows raised in question.
Ichigo just nodded as he finally managed to get his legs to move and made his way as quickly as he could to the door.
"Tch… took you long enough, Ichigo." Toshiro grunted as he was beckoned inside by the still silent strawberry. Karin and Yuzu who had been curious as to whom had gotten their brother so riled up, looked around the corner and when they saw Toshiro standing there, everything made sense. They greeted the boy quickly before retreating up to their rooms knowing that their brother would appreciate having some alone time with the white-haired boy.
"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu called from the kitchen. "Is Hitsugaya-kun staying for dinner?"
"How about it?" Ichigo grinned as he slammed his math book shut. "We've been working forever…!"
"We've only been working for two hours, Ichigo." Toshiro pointed out coolly.
"You know what I mean." The strawberry replied playfully as he stood up to stretch out his sore body. "Shall we?"
"I'm not really hungry…" the young genius muttered, all of a sudden very quiet.
"Yea, he is!" Ichigo yelled suddenly.
"I-Ichigo… I told you I'm not-"
"Mhmmm… you know that was really more of a statement than a question." The strawberry grinned wickedly in Toshiro's direction as he grabbed the smaller's wrist and started pulling him towards the dining room. He could feel the younger male's arm tense, but didn't think much of it, contributing it to the fact that he had simply caught the smaller male by surprise.
The two teenagers walked into the room, where Ichigo quickly ran over to where Yuzu was standing trying not to drop everything that she was carrying and leaving Toshiro standing awkwardly by the table.
Luckily, Yuzu being the person she was realized this fairly quickly. "Hitsugaya-kun, do you want to go grab the plates in the kitchen? That way you're not just standing there bored?"
"Okay." The genius nodded as he wandered back into the kitchen looking for the plates. Yuzu had set them on the counter right by the sink and Toshiro quickly grabbed the plates, not wanting to keep the Kurosaki's waiting. The plates weren't the most stable things in the world and so Toshiro was careful to walk slowly so as to not disturb the plates' shaky equilibrium. What he hadn't expected was for Ichigo to come running towards him to ask him if he needed any help, but instead doing the quite opposite and bumping him the boy just enough so that the top few plates flew off the stack and shattered all over the floor when they made contact with the hardwood.
The three Kurosaki's that had been in the dining room rushed over to where they had heard the crash to find Toshiro staring eyes wide at the floor and Ichigo with an apologetic look on his face.
"Toshiro are you okay?" Ichigo asked frantically.
"Hitsugaya-kun what happened?" Yuzu asked as well as she took the remaining plates from the visibly shaken Toshiro.
"Sorry…" Toshiro muttered as he bent down and started trying to clean up the mess, but only succeeded in giving himself a particularly deep gash from one of the broken fragments. The boy hissed as he instantly drew his hand away, but it was too late the damage had already been done.
"Don't worry about that, Hitsugaya-kun. I'll just go grab a broom and meanwhile, Ichigo why don't you go get that cut of his wrapped up?" Yuzu smiled as she headed back off to the kitchen.
"Comon." Ichigo said as he guided Toshiro back to the living room and instructed him to sit down on the couch while he went and got the first aid kit from his father's room. When the strawberry returned, he immediately started treating the small, but deep gash on the boy's hand. "You know…" Ichigo mused, "You're a lot clumsier than I remember…" he teased as he pulled out a small bottle of disinfectant.
Toshiro remained silent throughout the whole process as he relaxed while he watched the strawberry carefully clean and dress the cut so that it no longer stung. "Thanks." The genius finally muttered.
"You know…" Ichigo said trying to strike up a casual conversation. "I've really missed this... well, missed you."
"Yea…" Toshiro muttered. He knew were the strawberry was trying to take things…
"Something's been bothering me… and if I don't get it off my mind soon, I swear I'll explode…" Ichigo said suddenly as he started fiddling nervously with his fingers.
Here it comes…
"Ichigo… please don't do this…" The genius muttered under his breath.
"I know…" Ichigo sighed. "I know that you are happy with Gin, but I just need you to know… how I feel, or rather, how I've felt."
Ichigo… you have no idea what you're talking about and no idea the danger of what you're about to do…
"This is probably the worst time and worst way for you to find out like this and if this makes you hate me forever, then at least you know the truth and I don't have to wonder about what may or may not have happened that night two years ago..."
"Ichigo-"
"No, I'm going to say this, Toshiro!" The strawberry yelled, frustrated that after all this time he still couldn't just come out and say those three deceptively simple words. "Dammit. I should have said it then, I should have stayed by you… should have said that I am completely and utterly in love with you, Toshiro Hitsugaya."
"I-I…" Toshiro breathed, but after that couldn't form any coherent words. Why couldn't he just make up his god-damn mind! It would never work! I just… I just can't risk it! I can't risk him! He was in the middle of frantically trying to come up with something that he could possibly say because he knew that Ichigo would wait all night for a response if that was what it would take. Luckily, the sudden buzzing of his cell gave him the perfect opportunity to escape if even only temporarily. "Sorry, I need to take this…" he muttered quietly before slipping out of the room. "Hello?" he asked into the phone.
"My, my… I leave ya alone fo just a few days an' look what ya do..." Toshiro could have just died there on the spot, his worst fear was about to come true. "Yer such a bad boy, Toshi-kun… here I thought we had an understandin."
"I-I don't know w-what you're talking about…"
"Tha adorable stutter of yers tells me that you know exactly wha I'm talkin' about. Oh an I know yer gonna ask so I might as well tell ya anyway; I neva left ya." Even without seeing him, Toshiro knew the man on the other end was grinning madly. "It was a test ya see? An ya failed babe, so now yer gonna get yer pretty little ass back home now, so I can give ya yer punishment." The voice on the other end cackled. "Ya need ta learn yer lesson. Oh, and don't even think about tellin yer precious lil' strawberry… cause you know what'll happen if ya do."
Toshiro just couldn't believe his damn luck, or rather, lack thereof. Why…? Why did his life just have to be so fucked up…? Why couldn't he have listened to Ichigo in the first place? Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be in this situation… but there was nothing he could do about it now. What was done was done and he wasn't even sure if even Ichigo Kurosaki would be able to help him now.
Toshiro closed his phone and started the heartbreakingly short walk back into the room where Ichigo was undoubtedly waiting for him. He was going to have to go in there and just like two years ago, he was going to have to break the strawberry's heart in order keep him safe and in doing so he was pretty sure that Ichigo wasn't going to be the only one with an absolutely shattered heart this time.
A/N: So, I realize that you readers might have a few questions as to what is going on, but just bear with me okay? I promise to try and clear things up next chapter. Please review? :)
Oh, and one last note that I felt was worth mentioning. If you haven't already, you should totally go check out Encore, Encore by xTKx because she is awesome and that story is seriously MIND BLOWING. :D