A/N: Ok, here it is, the revised version of Once Upon A Time: Yet Another Bleach fanfic. Hopefully now that I'm doing my own thing and not typing up the anime stuff, updates should be sooner and chapters more detailed and longer (except this one cause I have no idea where else to go with this). Anyways, read, review, enjoy, and review, and review again. and again. Ok, now seriously read the damn disclaimer and the chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of its original characters. Just Akira and her powers :)


Confrontation

I sighed quietly, noticing my warmer breath had momentarily fogged up the glass window next to me in a small, deformed circle. When my eyes drifted back, I briefly saw my reflection against the glass, apathetic bright blue eyes staring back at me in deep thought. It was a relatively typical day which was filled with typical people living their typical lives, so much so I found myself breaking the typical cycle out of sheer boredom.

It had finally begun to bug me. The fact my best friend was skipping classes and ditching friends for some unknown reason. Sure, when anyone asked he gave lame, yet plausible excuses, but I could never find myself able to believe them no matter how hard I tried. When it first started to happen, I didn't really care or want to acknowledge it. Why? Because it started to happen when the new girl, Rukia, transferred over and begun to hang out with us. She was strange to say the least, like she was putting on some big façade or had no idea how to be a regular high school student. Maybe she was home schooled?(1) I found myself wondering before I continued my previous train of thought.

By no means did I care or judged who he hung out with-I mean look at Keigo-nor was I jealous, I was just a bit irritated he wasn't showing up at school. Like he seemed to constantly point out, he already got enough crap for his natural orange hair from most of the student body, so why make the teachers stereo-type him by being a delinquent and getting bad grades? It made no sense why he was suddenly acting so strange…

The end of the bell ringing brought me out of my thoughts, gaze turning towards the clock before standing up and grabbing my bag. Students rushed out the door all at once, causing me to lag behind a bit to not get caught up in the commotion as I quietly made my way out of the school. Another day he had failed to show, and yet I still find myself surprised. When he gets back maybe he'll explain things. If not, that was his problem to deal with when tests and questions popped up. He wasn't going to talk about it I sure as hell wasn't about to ask.


The next day at school was more eventful then the last when lunch came around.

"So you finally bothered to show today huh?" I commented calmly, leaning against the red iron railing surrounding the roof boredly. Ichigo and Rukia had walked up, quietly talking as they reached the regular spot we all gathered for lunch.

Ichigo looked up, eyes softening slightly and was about to yet again give another excuse. The tensing of his shoulders and slight panicked look in his eyes he always got when he lied gave it away, but I cut him off. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure it was important." I muttered, looking over his shoulder as the others approached. I notice Ichigo frown and Rukia throw us a confused look, but other than that the subject was dropped and lunch went on like any other typical day.


"Akira! Wait up!" I sighed, stopping at the front gate and looking over my shoulder as a head of vibrant orange weaved through the crowd toward me. I briefly noted he would make a crappy ninja with his hair and inability to be subtle about anything. "Want to come over? We haven't hung out in while." He asked. Over the years of knowing Ichigo, I've noticed on multiple occasions he didn't know how to go about confronting people who were close to him. He was a pretty passive guy on some things and knew how to handle a lot of situations, like for example when to shut his trap and when to bluntly talk about something. Most of the time he was oblivious to it, but he had his moments.

"Sure." I started walking with him down the frequently used road home. We lived relatively close to one another, maybe only a block or two away, so we always ended up walking home together. Well, I guess it would be used to now that he was a no show more than when he actually did show.

After a long walk of irritating silence, we arrived at Ichigo's house. I walked through the door after him, immediately looking around for Ichigo's father, Isshin, as I slipped off my shoes.

"My dad is working late." Ichigo smirked and we headed up to his room, the familiar surroundings more comforting than my own home. I raised an eyebrow when I spotted the yellow lion plush animal on Ichigo's bed, quickly walking over to it and holding it up.

"Since when were you into stuffed animals?" I asked in an almost teasing tone and Ichigo's brown eyes widened when he noticed what I picked up.

"It's Yuzu's." His cheeks lightly tinted pink and I chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not here to judge." I looked at it more closely, fingertips running over the brown spiked mane gently before tossing it to the male teen. He grumbled and threw it into his sisters room before grumpily stalking back it, making me shake my head lightly as I sat on the edge of his bed. Ichigo sat next to me a bit awkwardly, forearms resting on his knees as he probably thought of what to say.

"What's the deal with missing so much school? You know you're going to be screwed when tests come up." I pointed out, getting to the point since I knew he wasn't about to.

"It's complicated. I can't really talk about it." He muttered quietly and I sighed.

"Well what can you talk about? I wouldn't be worried if it wasn't almost an everyday thing." I explained more gently, eyes searching his face for any sign of, well anything.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He scoffed under his breath and I rolled my eyes.

"Ichigo, remind me what I did when you finally confessed to me you could see spirits?" I asked randomly and he suddenly looked up at me, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"You told me I didn't have a reason to lie to you." He muttered.

"Exactly." I shrugged. It was true though, Ichigo wasn't the type of guy to just randomly say "hey, I can see spirits" and then drag it on for a few years only to then tell me he was joking. I knew he didn't have the greatest sense of humor, but even so it wasn't that bad.

"It's just hard to explain..." He said again with a sigh mirroring my own while running a stressed hand through his hair as he flopped back onto the bed, cinnamon orbs gazing at the ceiling.

I pulled a knee against my chest, silent as I watched him. Whatever it was, it was time consuming, and he may have not wanted to be a part of it, but he knew he had to. How I knew that, was strange, but the nifty ability has been popping up a bit lately. "Well, when you can explain it, I'll be right here k?" I asked quietly, his eyes shifting over to look at me as he have a small smile.

"Yeah." It was obvious he was glad I decided not to press, but with how things seemed, he wasn't purposely missing school and neglecting friends. That's all I really wanted to know.

I felt my cheeks flair up a bit when I noticed Ichigo had took my hand in his, avoiding my gaze. I mentally smirk a bit as I squeezed my own hand lightly, both of us now enveloped in a comfortable silence.

Having Ichigo Kurosaki as a boyfriend would never get old.


(1)- by no means did I mean to insult or offend any of you people who are homeschooled, but I had a friend was used to be homeschooled up to freshman year in high school and had NO idea how to socialize with people and thus was kind of awkward. So that's where I was kinda going with that.

If you've read "Once Upon A Time: Yet Another Bleach Fanfic", feel free to read this. If not, it's not going to make any sense.

Didn't see that coming huh?~ well to be honest, I didn't know how to get them two together since Akira is really depressing and has an I-Hate-Affection type attitude, so what better way to have things then to have them together to begin with? Plus Akira isn't as depressing as I made her out to be before (obviously) so she's a little more normal. Cause once you think about Ichigo and who he kinda is, he doesn't seem like he would be into chicks like old-Akira. Anyways, hope you like it so far :) next chapter should hopefully be up soon.