I gazed up into Ichigo's chocolate brown eyes, he has changed a lot.
"It's nice to see you again, Akiko." He said, warmly. We stood at the door of the clinic, reminiscing about old times.
"You too, Ichigo." I replied. We knew each other when Ichigo and I were just little kids; we played with each other almost every Saturday. Our parents were good friends. Unfortunately after Ichigo's mother died I had to move to the other side of the country. We called each other a lot, about every week. We talked for a hour, but lately Ichigo had been out every time I called so I gave up. About a week ago my parents died in a car crash, I have no living relatives and no family friends other than the Kurosaki's so I moved in here.
Suddenly Ichigo was flung out of the doorway into a wall. Isshin took his place, grinning wildly.
"Akiko! I haven't seen you since you were a little girl, letting Ichigo choose all the games you played." The next part he said a little more soberly, "We missed you Akiko." I nodded, grimly, thinking of the reasons I was here in the first place.
"It's good to see you Kurosaki-san." I said politely to Isshin. Isshin grabbed my bag with one arm and put his other arm on my shoulder.
"No need for politeness, call me Isshin or Dad. Whatever floats your boat." He said, dropping my bag and lunging at Ichigo. I grinned awkwardly, what kind of father attacks his own son.
"Isshin's fine." I said, standing at the doorway pleading for them to stop. Not because they were fighting, just because it was so awkward standing there while Ichigo got the upper hand in the fight. I ran my fingers through my shoulder blade length blonde hair. My emerald green eyes scanned the room for a way to get them to stop fighting.
Karin and Yuzu rand down the stairs hearing the commotion. They shrugged it off and ran towards me, they looked exactly the same accept taller. Yuzu hugged me around my waist and Karin stood back grinning.
"We missed you so much Akiko!" Yuzu squealed. I nodded and leaned over to Karin,
"Do they always do this?" I asked, staring at Isshin and Ichigo. Karin turned around and glanced at them.
"What, fight? Yes they do this every day, sometimes twice a day." Karin said casually, obviously not worried that her father was getting thrashed. Ichigo stood up and grabbed my only bag I brought with me.
"You will be staying in the room next to mine." Ichigo grinned. Ichigo had changed a lot, he has gotten a lot taller and muscular, I only came up half way between his shoulder and elbow. But then again I'm short. He led me up to a room and placed my bag on the bed.
"I'll leave you to get set up; I'll be just next door." He said, shutting the door. I sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. The next day I would be starting school with Ichigo. I zipped open my duffle bag and poured out all my belongings. The moonlight shone through the window, it was about nine o'clock at night.
Inside the wardrobe was a school uniform, it was about my size and very dull. It had a white shirt with a red bow and a grey skirt. Through the paper thin walls I could hear Ichigo talking to someone with a very whiny voice. Obviously bored I leaned out of my room and pressed my ear to the door.
"When's Nii-san going to come back?" The high pitched whiny voice asked. It belonged to a male I think.
"I don't know Kon, she might never come back. Just be quiet, there's someone in the room next to us. She might be able to hear you." That was defiantly Ichigo's voice. The whiny voice sighed. My heart was pounding, Ichigo was talking about me.
"Wait you said she, can I…" The whiny voice trailed off, footsteps echoed through the room and suddenly Ichigo's door flew open. Ichigo was standing in the door way blocking my view into the room. My mind raced, I had to think of something to ask him.
"Um, do I need school books, because I looked around and I couldn't find any?" I stuttered, unconvincingly. Ichigo shook his head and shut the door. I dragged my feet back to the room, how could Ichigo have known that I was there.
I spent the next half an hour packing my things and lying on the bed, trying to hear the whiny voice again. After my shower I changed into my pajamas and sat on my bed. Memories of home flushed into my head, I lay my head on the pillow but something was making it all lumpy. I reached around and pulled it out from between my head and the pillow.
A yellow stuffed lion was in my hands, it must belong to Ichigo, Yuzu or Karin. I walked out and knocked on Ichigo's door, this time for a good reason.
Ichigo opened it and I hugged the lion to my chest.
"Is this cute little thing yours?" I asked. Suddenly the lion burrowed its head deeper in my chest, I shrieked and dropped it. Immediately Ichigo stamped his heel onto the lions face, I swear I heard it grunt.
"That thing just moved and grunted!" I yelled hysterically. Ichigo put his hand on my shoulder and said,
"I'm sure it did. I think you need to go to sleep, you must be tired." I grunted frustrated and stomped back to my room. I swore that the loin moved! I could hear in Ichigo's room Ichigo telling someone off quietly. I sighed to myself and crept under the doona cover, tomorrow was going to be a big day, I could tell. Slowly I drifted off to sleep, images of my parents flashed in my mind.