"You got a death wish, pal? Nobody jumps one of my boys for talking to some girl, then lives to tell about it." One of the guys in the small group in front of the two teens asked while walking up to the injuried man then sticking his index finger out to the highschool girl with pink hair and blue eyes. The man on the floor had been trying to impress the blue eyed girl with his skateboarding tricks but accidently knocked over a vase with flowers in it and before she had time to pick up the vase the gross skateboarding man began to flip up her skirt, then the next second later her best friend was effortlessly beating up the guy.

"Hn." That was Ichigo's reply that really meant 'back off you're not worth my time', it was clearly obvious with his brown eyes narrowed and his irritated expression as his hand reached up to scratch his orange spikes. It was also obvious that these guys were so dumb they didn't understand Ichigo's silent threat.

"That's all you gotta say?" Clearly this man was mad but it didn't affect Ichigo's irritated stance nor when the man grunted as he raised his fist, Ichigo wasn't scared or treatened all. Before the man's fist could connect with Ichigo's face, the orangette had his foot slammed into the guy's cheek to stop his attack and while the man was in pain that lazy look on Ichigo's features never left his expression. 'Sometimes I wonder just how long are Ichigo's legs' the blue eyed girl wondered while gazing at her friend's stance and seeing how high his foot was yet he didn't lose his balance. The brown eyed guy pulled his foot back slightly to give the skateboarder enough space to fall to the ground, when his face mad contact with the floor Ichigo brought his foot down and slammed the bottom of his foot in man's back. Ichigo made sure this man was in pain too, the orangette lifted his long and slender arm and made a fist to emphasize how much he wanted the man to be hurt.

"Lil' Yama's down, we gotta help him!" One guy panicked as the three remaining groupies watched their friend's back get pounded. The girl behind Ichigo sent the three a small death glare as she took a step forward making them take a step back in fear and the girl smirked.

"Are you crazy?" The second guy asked, "No way I'm taking on that psyco or even that freaky little nut-job girl." The third guy admitted. By now, Ichigo's foot moved to the back of the guy's head and slammed it deeper and deeper into the ground, making a dent in the sidewalk.

"You three are missing the point of why we're angery. It's not because this man lifted up my skirt," The pink haired girl said and she could have sworn she heard Ichigo slamming his foot down harder after what she said, "Look over th-" Her sentence was cut off when the comforting feeling of her friend's hand being placed on her shoulder. He had stopped slamming his foot into that guy's head and he walked in front of her, releasing her shoulder as he went and he got a scary facial expression that would've scared the blue eyed girl but she knew Ichigo was on her side, he's always been.

"Now listen up you pawnt scum, you see that!" Ichigo shouted before swinging his index finger to the area behind him and his friend, but he kept his glare towards the guys just in case they tried anything funny. To be honest, the three guys didn't know what they were looking at, had it not been for the pink haired girl who mouthed 'vase' and their gaze was stuck on the fallen glass with spilled flowers.

"First question, what do you think that is? You, the one in the middle, answer!" Ichigo demanded and the one guy in the middle stood in shock as the two other guys backed away from him with small yelps of fear. The guy looked from side to side at his friends for back up but they stayed as silent as a mouse, so the guy pointed to himself innocently.

"Uh wait, you talking to me?" Ichigo didn't answer so the guy continued, "I-I guess someone left those flowers there for some kid who got killed here." He was right of course but Ichigo quickly ran over to the guy in the middle and shifted his arms to the side of him to do a side kick with his foot once again high in the air while grunting out, "Correct!" The pink haired girl giggled as the guy to the left of Ichigo had his arms in the air as he screamed like a little girl and the guy to his right backed away from Ichigo and his friends.

"Wait, chill out!" The guy with his arms in the air shouted at Ichigo who continued to ask his questions.

"Now the next question," He set his foot down and was in a crouching position but looked over his shoulder at the guy who was now behind him, "That vase over there, why is it lying on it's side?" The two guys moved together before answering, "I guess one of us knocked it over when we were skateboarding through here." He was right too, but that wasn't a good enough reason for him to not beat the crap out of that guy. Ichigo's foot kicked each guy twice and they both fell landed on their faces and went back a little.

"You guys catch on fast," The sarcasm in Ichigo's fake praise was enough to make the guys know Ichigo wasn't someone to be messed with. The orangette took a deep breath, "NOW GO AND APOLOGIZE OR ELSE NEXT TIME THE FLOWERS WILL BE FOR YOU!" He said as flames of his anger surrounded him and his eyes rolled to the back of his head which managed to scare the crap out of those guys. They had a gay moment, both of them holding hands while screaming.

"Ahhh! We're sorry!" "Sorry!" "We're soo sorry!" They all screamed and began to run away but Ichigo jumped in front of them and pointed behind them all to the pink haired girl and he shouted, "YOU FORGOT TO SAY YOUR APOLOGIZES TO MY FRIEND!" They screamed like young girls once again before they turned on their heel at the same time and bowed on their knees, "Forgive us!" "We didn't mean anything miss!" "I-I didn't see anything when I lifted your skirt, it was a joke!" And with that they all scattered and ran away.

Ichigo stood a distance away from his pink haired friend, his arms were crossed over his chest with a proud yet angered expression on his face while the other girl stood with her hands intertwined at her thighs and a small smile was on her lips. "There, that outta keep those punks from showing their ugly faces around here." He said in an annoyed tone. "Sorry about that," Ichigo started while turning around and dropping his hands to his side as he watched a figure of a young girl started to shimmer and appear near a pole in the warm evening with the sun that was barely starting to set. "I'll bring you by some new flowers tomorrow," He promised as his pink haired friend walked up to the vase that was in front of the ghostly girl and she knelt down to place the fallen vase to stand up and she collected the scattered flowers that was on the floor to place it in the glass container.

"I'm sorry to have gotten you into trouble like that. " The girl shyly apologized so the blue eyed girl smiled kindly as she held out her hand and the young spirit stood in shock for a few seconds, she was scared to face the fact she was dead so if she were to put her hand on the pinkette's it would go right through. The spirit but on her brave face and gently placed her hand on top of the blue eyed teen's hand, then she grinned happily after seeing that her see-through hand was solid to the teen girl and it didn't go through unlike everyone else she tries to touch.

"Hey kiddo, don't worry about it. I'm sorry if Ichigo scared you; he's really not a scary person, he's just scary lookin'." The pinkette joked and earned a giggle from the ghost girl. Ichigo turned his head away with a scowl on his face but he wasn't as irritated as he led on, the orange haired boy was actually happy that his best friend could even get along with scared spirits. The little girl spoke again, only this time more to Ichigo than the pinkette.

"Thank you for coming to my defense," The young girl then turned her attention to the blue eyed girl, "I think now I can finally be able to rest peacefully." The spirit assured the kind teenagers in front of her which made the pinkette smile in joy and Ichigo walked past his friend and the ghost, his hands were shoved in his pockets and he sent the spirit a nod with a soft and almost friendly expression on his face. "No problem, it's the least I can do." Ichigo said in a kind and lazy tone while passing the two girls then raising his hand up in a motionless wave goodbye, "After all, you deserve to rest peacefully," He added before walking down the sidewalk as his pink haired friend giving the spirit a quick hug before she jogged to catch up to her much taller friend.

"Ichigo," The pinkette breathed quietly to let her friend know she was beside him. Her and Ichigo had been friends for as long as they could remember- when people would ask Ichigo how long had they been friends, the brown eyed man would reply with the word forever. Ichigo always felt the need to protect her because she's the only one who knows the real him, she knows what pain and sorrow he's gone through, she is his best friend even though Ichigo sometimes acts like he doesn't care at all for her just to help his "image". In return for his protectiveness and kindness to her, the pinkette would be kind and helpful to him, she wouldn't hide any secrets from him, she would talk to him, she would cry or laugh with him, and whenever he was weak she would give him strength. The same way if she cried Ichigo would comfort her, give her his strength.

"Ayako, you alright? Those scum bags didn't hurt you, did they?" Ichigo asked, his voice sounded half insterested and half lazy and annoyed but he was honestly glad to see his friend shake her head as a no. Even when that memory of being slightly harassed, she still managed to smile softly to show Ichigo she was truly okay because if she wouldn't have smiled her friend would've known she was lying. She was actually scared, though she really didn't show it much, and she felt like she wasn't able to breathe, that was, until Ichigo showed up and beat the crap out of those guys.

"No, I'm not. I was a little embarrassed when that guy lifted my skirt but they didn't touch me, other than that, thanks to you. So, thank you Ichigo." Ayako said as she nudged Ichigo's side with her elbow in the most gentlest way she could before beaming at him. He moaned quietly and quickly as a reaction to his side being elbowed.

"Hn, that bastard wouldn't have touched you if you wouldn't have been so damn stubborn and said yes when I offered to walk you home from school." Ichigo then heard Ayako giggling softly which made him look at her like she was crazy, "Why the hell are you laughin' for? You could've been raped you idiot!" She cut off her giggle when he called her an idiot and she glared up at him with a small scowl on her face.

"No need to call me an idiot, c'mon Ichigo, be yourself right now. No one is around to see you," Her eyes narrowed and her frown turned into a sly smirk before she tapped at Ichigo's abdomen in a playful manner. Ichigo just stared down at her fingers bouncing off his stomach with slightly lifted eyebrows and a wondering look in his chocolate brown eyes, 'I don't think I want to know what she's thinking. Most likely she'll try to embarrass me or something like that..' Ichigo thought.

"Aw, are you really letting that get to you? Are you really that worried about me Ichigo? I never knew that you would go as far as to stalk me just to make sure I got home safetly." Ichigo blushed slightly then turned his head away from his friend to hide his light pink cheeks, he didn't stalk Ayako, or atleast he didn't intend to. But how else would he have known his friend was in trouble? Maybe he did follow her a little. Ayako crossed her arms over her small chest with a satisfied smirk on her lips before she began to giggle and she got that soft and friendly expression on her face again. "Anyway, let's go to our secret place because today is a very special day!" Ayako said while unfolding and throwing her arms in the air with an excited grin.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her, "Nandayo?"[1]

Ayako sighed after she dropped her hands to her sides and pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand and she bent her left arm so her palm could hold her right elbow and she stopped walking so she could bend her left knee which made Ichigo smile sheepishly, what was he doing that was making her upset? "Ichigo you hopeless moron, I can't believe you forgot what today is! It's the 5th of May!" She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world but Ichigo sweat dropped with the nervous smile on his lips, "S'that supposed to mean something important? Could you remind me again?" His voice was weak and nervous and slightly scared at what Ayako would do to him if he forgot something very important. She grunted and began to march away from Ichigo.

"H-hey! Wait up!" He called while holding his arm out to her but she was already in the distance. "Damn it." He cursed before jogging to catch up with Ayako but the blue eyed girl actually was smiling, 'Finally, Ichigo is himself. His nut-headed, yet lovable, self.' The pink haired girl thought before hearing the orange haired guy catch up to her and he was calling her name is a innocent and sympathetic voice. When Ichigo was very close to her, she suddenly broke into a sprint and she began to run away from Ichigo which only made the brown eyed man run quicker. He chased her half way through town before they finally came to a stop on a giant hill, she was the first to stop and she bent over her knees, that were being cupped by her hands, and she panted for air as Ichigo came to a stop behind her and took a couple of deep breaths to calm his heart down.

While Ayako was trying to catch her breath, Ichigo examined the area and realized why May 5th was so important to the pinkette and why it should be important to him. They were on a hill that was made up of mostly bright and fresh green grass with a single willow tree in the middle of the small landscape, it was tall and pretty old with a few leaves on it, the whispy branches gracefully hung around the trunk of the tree, where Ayako had moved sit and lean her back against the great trunk. The sunlight of the sunset's angle hit the hill perfectly and made everything seem so alive and radiant while gentle and warm breezes would pass by and give the area a calm and happy aura. This hill was the place Ichigo had first met Ayako, exactly ten years ago on this day, May 5th. This area and girl was one of the few major important things to Ichigo.

"This is the anniversary...of you and me.."

Ayako smiled peacefully with her eyes closed and nodded her head slightly before Ichigo smirked, proud of himself for remembering, then walking to the other side of the tree and sat directly behind Ayako, their backs would've touched had it not been for the thick tree trunk. "Yeah it is. Ten years go by pretty fast, huh Ichigo?" Ayako asked her best friend before reaching into one of the pockets in her school bag and pulling out a small box.

"Sure does.." Ichigo breathed out with a monotoned voice and tiredly watched out into the distance. Ayako lifted and set her school bag on the side of her before she crawled on her hands and knees around the trunk until she saw Ichigo and his brown eyes made contact with her blue ones, she sat next to him so that her shoulder touched his bicep (she's smaller than him) and she handed him the box. "Here, happy anniversary."

Ichigo took the small black box out of Ayako's hand, his fingers had brushed across his pink haired friend's hand and he took notice on how it made her shiver slightly, and he lifted the lid off and the first thing he noticed was a silver chain. The chain was at least ten inches long and connected to it was a small circle that had a vertical line running down it. "A pocket-watch?" Ichigo asked, he never really cared for one of these things. Ayako shook her head before resting her cheek and ear on Ichigo's arm then pointed to the line and replied, "Open it silly."

Ichigo did as his pink haired friend instructed him too, taking a deep breath he split open the silver circle and his breath almost got caught in his throat. 'Mom...' That was the first person Ichigo noticed as he examined the two pictures that hid inside the circle. The one on the right was of Ichigo dressed up as a prince with a goofy smile on his lips and he gave, whoever took the picture, a thumbs up and next to him was Ayako, who was dressed up as an angel, and she stuck her tongue out then there was Ichigo's mother who was dressed as a princess and she held the two six year old's shoulders with a smile on her beautiful pink lips. The picture on the left was of Ichigo's mother kissing Ichigo's forehead and the nine year old had a goofy grin on his face and tears were streaming down his cheeks, the picture was tooken the day Ichigo's mother died. "I-I'm sorry it's o-only two...those were the only t-two I could find." Ayako stuttered nervously, she wanted to know of Ichigo liked it.

"No...it's fine. Thanks, and sorry I didn't get you anything but I will," Ichigo replied but never moved his gaze away from the two pictures of his mother, he almost forgot how beautiful she was, and he almost forgot how happy he was when he was with her but every time he would think of his mother it was always followed with sorrow and guilt. A soft weight was set on his shoulder and he finally tore his eyes away and he looked down to see soft pink strains running down his chest and a pile of pink rested on his shoulder which made him quietly chuckle. "What?" Ayako asked curiously without shifting her head towards the orangette.

"Nothing just that your hair makes it look like there's a giant ball of cotton candy on my shoulder."

"Ha-ha, very funny Ichi-kun."

"I told you already, don't call me that!"

"The don't make fun of my hair..."

"Whatever and again, sorry about the whole gifts and forgertting today thing. I'll make it up to you,"

"It's okay..." And with that, Ayako slowly drifted into a short slumber with her head on her friend and future protector, Ichigo's, arm and he slumped down slightly to make the pinkette more comfortable.

My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm 15 years old, so I'm a highschool student. My family runs a clinic here in town, maybe it's because we're entrusted with the lives of the living, 'm not sure. But for as long as I can remember I've been able to see the souls of the dearly departed, just like Ayako Suzuki, my life-long friend..

[1] Nandayo- (English Translation) What is it?

(Im gonna keep this as short as possible) This is my newest story that I'm planning on using to show my writers block that is it so longer able to prevent me from creating this awesome story, so review to help my confidence back please or just let me know whatcha think so far!(:

~Liz