Episode 1

Ichiruki: Break up? Why?

Ichigo smiled at me tentatively. He stood up and walked over to me. I could feel a hot blush creeping up my neck. He leaned closer to me, a peculiar look on his face. I held my breath and looked at the concrete floor. Ichigo sat beside me on the sofa and tilted my head my head up so that I was facing him. I breathed out unevenly. I could practically feel my ears turn red.

"Rukia, I need to tell you something important," he said in a serious tone of voice. I could recognize from his voice that something was up and it was very urgent. He dropped his hand onto his lap.

"What is it Ichigo?" I stammered nervously. Ichigo covered his face with his hands and mumbled something into his hand.

"What is it, c'mon, what is it Ichigo?" I was hyperventilating now.

"I wanna break up with you," he stated in a shaky voice, looking at me. He was trying to see my reaction. My face fell. Tears welled up in my raven-colored eyes.

"What!? Why?" I whispered, horrified. I turned my head towards the wall, feeling waves of sadness crash through my entire being. The tears were now flowing swiftly down my cheeks. I turned to face him again. He saw the tears in my eyes and looked at me fully, feeling concerned.

"Do I lack anything that you want to break up with me!" I whispered, furious now. I wiped away the tears that I knew would never stop in an attempt to look angry.

"No, there's nothing wrong with you…" he trailed off. He was taken aback by my reaction. He took my left hand in his and held on to it. Needless to say, I pushed his hand away angrily, feeling torn inside. It was like there was a huge hole in my heart and it was bleeding.

I stood up angrily and stomped towards the door shaking inside. The tears were still flowing freely down my face, only now, they were angry tears. He grabbed my wrist in an attempt to stop me in my tracks. He looked at me with pleading eyes.

"No, no Rukia! Let me explain…you haven't even heard my explanation," he pled desperately. I shook his hand off and turned around. I hissed angrily, "Go away! You don't want me anymore, right? So let me go!"

"Renji will be very, very happy now that I'm single again," I laughed humorlessly, in its place was a bitter feeling in my mouth. I wiped the onslaught of tears again. I thought I saw his eyes glistening with tears. I ran for the door and this time he didn't stop me. I slammed the door behind me and ran in the direction of Orihime's apartment.

Outside, that was when the tears really flowed. I am so pathetic, I thought, I can't even hold on to my boyfriend. My world was coming to pieces the whole time. I was crying as I trudged dispiritedly back to Orihime's apartment. A couple I passed by gave me a pitying look as I passed by. After a few minutes, I noticed that I was nearing Orihime's apartment.

I quickened my pace towards the apartment. I was eager to cry myself to sleep, to forget that I broke up with him. Just then, Orihime walked out of the entrance door. Orihime accepted me and allowed me to stay at her place for free when I ran away from Soul Society. She was about to wave at me when she noticed my eyes that were red from crying. I'm super pathetic, I thought, crying over some guy that broke up with me. Well, that's definitely me. She hugged me tightly patting my back in a comforting manner. If there was one person that cared about me sincerely, it was definitely Orihime.

She lent me a listening ear when I was troubled and experienced my ups and downs with me. I'm glad that there were some people like her in this unjust world.

"Come inside and have a drink of hot cocoa. That would calm you down nicely," she explained, dragging me along like a rag doll. She pushed the front door open and went into the living room to push me onto the two-seater sofa.

"I'll be back," she told me with an air of authority. She came back a moment later with two steaming mugs of hot cocoa in her hands. She told me to tell her everything from the start – I think order would have suited better. I told her everything. She nodded once in a while and stared off into space, sipping her hot cocoa occasionally. She also hissed something unintelligible and tsk-ed a few times.

The corner of my mouth turned up slightly, that was why I loved this girl. She listens to me. Not like that fucking bastard, I thought wryly. She now had a thoughtful look on her face and was twirling a strand of her orange hair with her index finger. The silence was broken by Orihime.

"I think that you should forget about him. He is not worth wasting your tears for. You deserve someone better than him," she pacified me. I couldn't help but smile at her assessment. Out of the blue, my phone rang shrilly. I picked up the phone and flipped it open to check the caller ID. It's him, I thought sourly. I pressed the 'answer' button.

"Fuck off, you bastard! I don't want to hear from you ever again!" I hissed into the phone. I didn't regret my choice of words and just kept quiet. I was seething inside. I felt like shredding him into a million little pieces and burning him to ashes.

"Rukia, listen…I want to break up with you. It's because of…a girl. I have another girlfriend…even when you were my girlfriend," he admitted, sounding ashamed. I think he was trying to convince me because I could sense hope in his voice. Too bad, I thought, I'm going to shred that piece into a million tiny pieces.

"Are you happy with your new girlfriend, Ichigo?" Rukia questioned him, mocking him purposely, "Because I honestly don't care! Can you just please stop contacting me and fuck off!!!!" I pressed the 'end' button. I didn't realize that I was breathing very heavily and crying until the phone call was over. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and exhilaration running in my veins. I wiped away the traitor tears and smiled bravely at Orihime. It was dark outside now, I checked my watch and found out that it was seven at night.

"I want to sleep now Orihime, I'm fine," I reassured her. I walked to my bedroom with adrenaline pumping through my veins. Even though it hurt to know that I hurt him with my words…I was glad that he would leave me alone. That night was the first time that I felt confused about my own feelings. I suppressed the feeling inside my heart. I locked it away in my heart and threw away the key. Now I won't ever feel it again.

But actually, deep down in my heart of hearts, I wanted Ichigo to move on and be happy with his new girlfriend. I don't want him to be hurt anymore. Whether by my words or actions, I didn't care, I only wanted him to be happy. So why did I feel envious. Envious of what? I locked that feeling in my heart with the confusing feelings. Never to be opened again, hopefully.

-THE END-