A/N: My first quarter ends on Friday, and I have a lab report I should be doing, but I'm pretty sure that this is more important.

I know I haven't updated In With A Bullet in a little while, but that's because I have NO IDEA what the hell's going to happen in the story, and nobody wants to tell me what they think should happen (shrugs). So, it's on a temporary hiatus until I get some ideas.

Italics are flashbacks. Bold italics are thoughts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. That's Tite Kubo. If I owned Bleach, Chappy would rule, and all the little Chappies would all gang up and eat Orihime. I mean, c'mon, how amusing would that be? Pretty, right? Yeah, in case I didn't mention this, this fanfic is ICHIRUKI, so…yeah. (Orihime die!)

Chapter one: How it all began

"C'mon, stay with me." His brown eyes looked into her's, their beautiful orange tint surrounded by blood, so much blood. He winced in pain, glass continuously digging into his arm. Ignoring the pain, he reached around their seatbelts and held her; waiting for the paramedics he prayed would come.

"Ichi-go?" she said, groaning as she tried to move.

"No, no, stay where you are."

"What happened?" she whispered, barely managing to do that.

"Nothing bad," he said, trying so hard to reassure her. "We just got a little hurt is all." C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. Where the hell are the paramedics? Out of all the places to crash, they'd have to choose the worst. It could be a while for them to be found in the wooded area, deep in the country backwoods.

"Ichigo? I'm a bit sleepy." Orange eyes started to close, so slowly. Her hair spilled in front of her face as the rest of her started to go limp. "Ichigo," she whispered. "Will we ever meet again?"

"Don't leave me," he pleaded.

"Promise me…"

"What? I'll do anything. Just stay with me!" He could hear the desperation in his own voice.

She smiled. "Promise me you'll love me forever." The smile froze on her face, and she coughed up the smallest amount of blood.

Ichigo could hear the sirens approaching. "Stay with me," he begged once more.

"I…love…you Ichi-go —" She coughed again, and the coughs eventually turned into gasps for breath.

"I love you, too." Ichigo blinked back tears. "And I'll always love you.

" Forever, Senna."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Ichigo."

Ichigo looked up at his father.

"Ichigo," Isshin repeated again. "It's a new year."

Ichigo didn't speak. Isshin sighed, sitting down on his son's bed carefully. Even though all of Ichigo's wounds-broken ribs, countless cuts and bruises, nn."s love you. Forever,d uo turned into uo the smallest amount of blood. ime. thouya broken arm- had healed, Ichigo still looked like her did when he'd first been pulled out of the car and put on a stretcher. Broken. Even though eight months had passed, nothing had made a difference.

"Ichigo." Isshin cleared his throat. "It's time you started living again. I've enrolled you into Kinshara. Since you've completed all of your schoolwork, you can still go into your senior year."He looked at his son, who refused to stare him in the eye. Instead, he was looking at an overturned frame.

Isshin turned to leave, but for the first time in eight months, Ichigo spoke. "When do I start?"

Isshin stared at his son's door, his mouth wide open. He quickly snapped it shut, a small pop resonating through the room. "The first of next month."

Even though he couldn't see it, he knew Ichigo nodded. He left his son, trying to hide his joy. Finally, after eight long months, he was finally starting to get somewhere with his son.

"Hey, Karin."

Karin looked up in time to see Tatsuki throw her things down, taking a spot on the sidewalk next to Karin.

"Hey." Karin knew what was coming next.

"So," Tatsuki said, stretching. "How's Ichigo?"

"I don't know," Karin said, repeating the same thing she always said when Tatsuki came.

A door slammed, and Karin and Tatsuki looked up. There stood Ichigo, looking out over the yard.

Tatsuki recovered first, jumping up and tackling the orange-haired teen. "Ichigo!" she screamed. Ichigo looked around, startled. His eyes landed on Karin, and she shrugged before grinning.

Tatsuki stepped back, outstretching her hand and slapping Ichigo.

His head whipped back, and Karin stood there, shocked. "That's for ditching me this school year. Your dad told me you were transferring!"

Surprisingly, Ichigo smiled; a small, embarrassed smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Ichigo," Karin said, more to herself; had he really come back?

"Yeah, right," Ichigo said, his voice sounding still a little hollow. "Now you have less competition to worry about."

Tatsuki snorted. "Who were you kidding? You were never any competition anyways, Ichigo."

Karin looked at the two. Maybe, in time, her brother would come back.

(A/N): Grr… I'm running out of time, so I need to end it there. I have a lot more I wrote, but I really wanted to get this up today. I'll type the rest later and wait for reviews . Next chapter…Ichigo goes to school!