This is a warning, about no warnings in future chapters.

~ Chapter 1 - New semester ~

It's that time of the year again, the start of the new school year. The university is full of new eager students, where a few of them don't really know what they have signed up for. Studying at this degree shouldn't be taken lightly, or else you could find yourself doing makeup exams. It's unusually crowded in the halls, but that would subside a few weeks in to the semester, after everyone sorted everything out with email accounts and what not. When the new students realize that going at exactly every lecture was sometimes a waste of time especially if you were hangover from the night before, even less people would be on campus.

The first three weeks are to make the new students familiar with the town and the school. This is sponsored by the different fraternity and sorority (club) activities. Their leaders keep it all together with their fracción, which consists of their most trusted friends. Different activities are arranged day and night to make sure the new students get to know each other. Everything is completely voluntary and all participants can choose to not do an activity if they don't want to. Drinking, or not drinking, at missions was for the rookie to decide. This university has a modern way of seeing how initiation should play out, and desires to not get a lot of bad publicity in the media. It's actually better this way, since those who wanted to could participate, and everyone was a part of the fraternity or the sorority, not just a few selected members, if you pay the members fee.

Each fraternity or sorority got their own color: green, yellow, purple, pink, blue, black et cetera, depending on what subject you plan to major in. The color is usually seen on the overalls the members of each club wore. There is also a way of decorating you overalls. Your name is supposed to be sewn on your right leg and different buyable fabric patches with different designs and writings can be used to decorate it further. To pimp it even more, you can, for example, attach an opener and shot glass. If you were in a relationship, it is okay to exchange different parts of your overalls with your lover to show that you belong together - at your own risk, of course - one can never foresee the stability of said relationship. How did you know which superiors in the different clubs you were supposed to worship? The leaders' overalls are a little bit different - they are a shade darker color-wise and their fracción has the same color tied around a limb, depending on preference.

The whole thing was built on a kind of slave -master relationship, if you were to put a name on the situation between the student and their new club. The new students were, at all costs, to take orders from the leaders and do just as they said, but the ownership over them was a pretense, of course. If they did as told, they got rewards in form of green crosses on something that said club chose for them to wear as a score board. The brave, new students smart-talked or did favors for the leaders to get extra crosses in order to win at the end of the three weeks.

In short, school was filled with lost students and dressed out seniors.

Ichigo Kurosaki was starting his second year and hadn't participated in the last years activities – ergo, he wasn't wearing colorful overalls at the moment. All of what it meant didn't interest him in the slightest. His decision, although, wasn't that positive in that sense of making friends. He had 'school friends,' which he only talked to when he had something to say and biked straight home after classes. Ichigo's introverted personality didn't make it better either. He thought that he would be okay with being alone, but it was starting to wear him down mentally. The cheery attitude that his school aired at the moment wore his self confidence down in a depressing way.

It was Tuesday morning, and fifteen minutes where left before his first roll call of the semester. He'd sat down on a bench around a pillar close to the class room. People were running around and the freshmen stood with confused faces around the guiding map. It was at that moment that the world seemed to stop for a few seconds as a group of seniors entered through the doors. They wore the signature overalls, black, patched and decorated with the upper half knotted with the arms of it around their waist. Black was one of the colors that couldn't reveal the leader of the club but it wasn't needed. The leader was very obvious as he walked across the hall with confident steps. He wore a shark grin and had obnoxiously blue hair to go with it. The man to his left wore a black bandana over his left eye and sported black hair down to his shoulders. The last man to the right had pink short hair, the bandana around his bicep and a pair of white glasses, easiest way of describing him would be a cool nerd. Ichigo couldn't remember seeing them in school at all last year, but something made him drawn in to them. Their names, nicknames most likely, were of course sewn on their right pant legs. The blunette's said 'sexta', black haired's 'quinto' and the pink nerd 'octava'. Ichigo could just stare discreetly as they walked past him down to the cafeteria.

He had attended his roll call and was soon home, since the lectures didn't start on the first day anyway. He lived in an apartment with two rooms; one was the living room with a dining table - which also served as a desk - and a small bedroom and a kitchenette. Ichigo even had a balcony. He was fortunate to live the way he did. The rent was a little over the budget, but it was worth it. He hadn't had a neighbor since he moved in, or that was what he thought, since he had never seen anyone next door.

Ichigo checked his mailbox in the entrance hall before climbing the stairs to his door. Just as he was going to unlock his it, the door next door opened, to his surprise. Out of it walks no other then the blue haired guy he'd seen at school. No way. Hurrying, Ichigo threw himself inside his apartment. Why he just did that, he had no idea. He must be more anti-social than he thought. The new guy wouldn't possibly know how he is and if judged from the first impression, this wasn't to his advantage. With a sigh, Ichigo opened his fridge to prepare something for lunch. The only problem was that there wasn't anything lunch-like in the white cool cupboard. With no other choice, Ichigo went out through the door to buy some food in the store that's located 700 meters from the apartment building. Life isn't supposed to be easy, Ichigo figured, when the exit is blocked by a broad back. It's his new neighbor and the black haired man from before. A couch is currently stuck in the door frame and blue is yelled at by black.

"Ya stupid asshole! Turn the couch down so it doesn't get stuck!"

"Shut up! If you didn't lift it like a pussy this would be a hundred times easier!"

"Did ya call me a fucking girl?"

"Are you d-"

Of course Ichigo's stomach just had to take the moment to give of a hungry groan. The awkward silence following it didn't make the situation better. The two men carrying the couch turned their heads at towards the sound.

"I-if you turn the couch up and twist it a little it will go through the door…" Ichigo shyly stated.

Blue shrugged his shoulders and the two men give it a try. Voliá! The couch is inside and unceremoniously dropped down on the floor. The two men show no hesitation of sitting down in it. Like they own the place already. A hand is stretched out in front of Ichigo.

"I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

Ichigo takes it and gives it a firm shake. "Ichigo Kurosaki. I'm you new neighbor actually."

"Cool. That's Nnoitra Gilga by the way."

Then it gets silent again. Ichigo can almost feel an uncomfortable blush making its way up to his cheeks.

"Weren't ya going somewhere?" Nnoitra grinned.

"Uhm, yeah... Nice meeting you." Ichigo responded like a fucking five year old before leaving the building.

On the way to the store he goes through of what just happened. The more he thinks about it, the more he wants to sink down through the pavement. He bought his lunch ingredients and some other stuff to complement what he already had at home. To his relief, the white truck wasn't there when he came back. He had had enough of strange situations for a day.

~~xxx~~

Scrunching his nose, Ichigo lay awake in bed, staring at his ceiling. Apparently his new neighbor was a smoker, and a chain smoker at that. His window had been slightly ajar during the night, and now his whole apartment smelled like used cigarettes. Euk. On top of it all, Grimmjow had gotten home late last night, drunkenly talked loud in the corridor and bumped his bed into the wall for forty minutes. Ichigo had a feeling that it would get worse. Strange, huh?

It was a house for students, and the luxury of not having anyone next door the first year Ichigo lived there had made him spoiled. The quiet nights were over, but in a way, it felt great. With a little more movement in the house, located where he lived, would make his lonely days a little more homelike. He ate breakfast and sleepily made his way down to school - today the lectures would begin for real. A big amount of coffee would be needed.

On the school grounds, the activities for the freshmen that weren't too hungover to make it out of bed were in full swing. Ichigo expertly dodged any contact and took a seat inside the classroom. He had a hard time staying awake during the professor's talking, and the time seemed to go so incredibly slowly. It was only a few more minutes before the lecture would pause for a coffee break. Ichigo would go and buy a coffee and return to sit outside the door to the classroom. Today was no exception, he sat and sipped his coffee while he looked at people walking by. The caffeine rushing through his body was welcome, he felt a little more alive thanks to it. A hoard of first years were outside doing an activity. They were competing in which club who could make the longest clothing line on the ground. The leaders were cheering them on so their group would win. A few had already stripped out of their clothing and stood only in their underwear for everyone to see. A little pathetic in Ichigo's opinion. Which club won the game, the ginger never got to know, as the professor let everyone inside to continue with the lecture.

He was a little more alert this time and scribbled down notes in his notepad. It felt as if he was the only one listening: a row in the back played with their phones, some students in front of him were busy checking Facebook, and the girl to his left was scribbling random figures on a paper. This is what it usually looked like at his lectures. He had a hard time understanding why the people even bothered to show up if they didn't plan to listen. Great way of spending their loaned money. Ichigo, on the other hand, wasn't forced to loan money; he was in a 'Harry Potter situation', an Orphan with his deceased parents' fortune on his bank account. He lay down his pen beside his notes and stared blankly ahead. His parents passed away the year before he had begun his first year in the university. Since he was the only child, he inherited everything. Ichigo took the money and spent it on what his parents would have wanted him to spend it on: education. Beyond paying for his tutoring, he only spent his money on costs needed to survive.

He let a small sigh escape his lips. Way to go to get depressed now; he shouldn't have gone down on the memory lane, it always made him feel terrible. The lecture was drawing to an end and he would go straight home to his empty apartment maybe eat some lunch.

When Ichigo came home, he turned on the TV and sat down in the couch and held a pillow to his chest. He snuggled into it before falling unceremoniously to the side. He put up his legs in the couch, and lay in a fetal position. His stomach didn't crave for lunch and if he were lucky he would be hungry later, but it all depended on his mood. The TV showed The Big Bang Theory, which always made him laugh at Sheldon's way of saying and missimpret things, but not today. He felt so lonely. If the TV was off, the apartment would be so quiet that only the ticking of his alarm clock would sound. No single soul in this town was going to call him 'cause he hasn't given his phone number to anyone since moving here... and that was a year ago. Everyone seemed to have it so easily. They met new friends, attended parties, got romantically involved, bought trips to sunny resorts or just chilled with people they were friends with. Why couldn't he have all that too? Why did he have to be frightened to trust new people? Was it maybe because he hasn't found anyone that thought like him? Ichigo could think these thoughts over and over again and not come with a conclusion. It was meant to be for him to be alone, with no one to gossip with or complain to when school sucked. Only thinking of it made his chest hurt, he could feel how his breathing got faster and how the tears leaked from the corner of his eyes. If he let it all out, it would feel better later, it always did. Ichigo didn't try to stop his tears, he let his angst run through him. It took a few minutes before he could calm down. He reached for tissues to dry his tears and blow his runny nose. Ichigo rose from the couch and walked to the bathroom. The teen stared at himself in the mirror to see his red puffy eyes and tired look. He splashed some water in his face to refresh a bit before going back to the couch. That day, Ichigo fell asleep in the sofa only to wake up the next morning and start all over again.

~~xxx~~

It was at the end of week two of introductions, and so far his neighbor had brought home a few more sleeping partners. If it was the same or several, Ichigo had no clue, not that it was his business for that part. A strange thing had happened the day before while he had been waiting for his professor to open the door to the classroom. A blonde small sized male had approached him. Ichigo had never seen him before in his class, though, but the blond had taken notice of him.

"Hello, I'm Shinji Hirako. Nice to meet you."

Ichigo looked up at the stranger a little perplexed.

"Hi… I'm Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I know."

"You do?" This was getting creepy.

"We do attend the same course, actually."

Oh.

"Well, I caught something the first week so I haven't been able to be in school but when I was I couldn't help to notice you. You always sit here waiting for class. I was trying to get to talk to you, but you always managed to disappear straight after."

"Okay…"

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow? Some friends and I are going to eat at a restaurant."

"Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass… I got other stuff to take care of."

"You're not fooling anyone, Ichigo."

Spot on Mr. Obvious.

"Think about it and give me your answer at the coffee break."

Little did he know that Shinji didn't take no for an answer.

Ichigo was currently riding the bus down to the middle of the town to meet Shinji and his friends. He was extremely nervous. Why he trusted a complete stranger was beyond him. They were going to eat at a place that served buffet, because one the blonde's friends was afraid that he wouldn't get full, and it was the cheapest. Fair enough; it seemed legit. Everyone was already waiting when he arrived at the meeting point outside the restaurant. Shinji waved his arms as he saw him coming.

"Everyone, this is Ichigo. Ichigo, this is everyone."

"Hello." He said quietly and flicked his hand in a 'hello' gesture. He looked away from the people and felt the situation go awkward.

"Shinji, that is no proper way of introducing people." A red haired man complained to the blond. "I'm Renji Abarai. The guy to my left is Sado Yasutora. He might look dangerous, but he's the kindest man on earth. Then we have Izuru Kira and Shūhei Hisagi." Ichigo nodded in confirmation.

At the restaurant, Ichigo got seated next to Shinji, with Renji on his other side. He took in the red hair, the tattoos he so boldly had inked in his forehead, and others sliding down under his white t-shirt. The man had a grin on his mouth the entire time. He also was pretty buffed. If you would ask Ichigo, he was definitely his type. Ichigo Kurosaki was 100 % gay, always had been, always will be. He never had any type of relationship before, but he was certain. They ate the food they chose from the buffet; Ichigo sat in silence the entire time, poking his food. The group of friends talked and laughed during their conversations. Ichigo felt warmth radiating from them, and a small smile appeared on his lips.

"You finally smiled." Renji exclaimed.

It made Ichigo blush. If he only could hide under the table for a while to be embarrassed alone.

"Look Renji! You got him all embarrassed now! He's already uncomfortable."

"Couldn't help it." The redhead said with a grin.

"So Ichigo, did you move here or were you born here?" Kira asked.

"I moved from Karakura and live in one of the student apartment houses."

"Oh, most of us here do except from Kira and Shūhei. They live together in an ordinary apartment. In what building do you live in?"

"In the red one. Which are you living in?"

"We live in the same one!" Shinji exclaimed. "How come I haven't seen you around before?"

"We probably must have missed each other." I don't leave the apartment if I don't have to but that's none of your concern. He answered sincerely.

"I live in the yellow one. Sado, too, by the way." Renji told him and Sado nodded in agreement.

"I forgot to tell you guys, but I'm DJ-ing at the "Summer Party" at the student club house. Are you going? I'm sure it will be a blast like last year." Shūhei announced. Ichigo grew uncomfortable immediately since he hated parties and everyone at them. A true introvert by heart. They would, without doubt, ask him if he were going, and he already knew what to answer.

"Hell yeah! Last year the line into the building was a big party itself. I had the greatest day of my life - what I remember of it." Shinji almost screamed in joy.

"That you ask surprises me Shūhei; everyone goes. It's the biggest party of these three first weeks." Renji said and turned his gaze to Ichigo. "You're coming, too, right?"

"Eeh, what? No, I don't think so. It's not my definition of fun." Ichigo said quietly.

"Come on Ichigo! I promise that it will be fun! You don't have to drink alcohol if you don't want to." Shinji tried to persuade him.

"I-I don't know…"

"The party is next Friday, so you got some time to think, ne?" Renji stared at Shinji who winked at him. Oh… Poor Ichigo. "It's like Shinji said. You can think about it."

Ichigo stared at his plate. He had already made up his mind, though. Sado hadn't said much since he first met him. That must be why Shinji came to speak with him, since he's used to quiet people. This friendship everyone at the table had felt really good, and he wanted to be a part of it. He felt happy inside.

TBC

Author's note: Thanks to my beta – paradoxicalNightmares!

The reason for me not warning readers when it's a more mature nature to the chapters, is because it ruins the whole story. A warning spoil the whole chapter before you even got a chance to read it, and I hate when that happens. Hopefully you agree with me. Thoughts?

~BIAE