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Themes:

1. Confession

2. Denial *

3. Interruption

Keigo woke up in his bed and knew immediately that someone had carried him in. He couldn't remember anything of the previous day, but he knew for a fact that his own feet weren't responsible for his being here. He was fully dressed, and Keigo never slept in anything more than his boxers. He was also positive that his memory loss had nothing to do with alcohol, because if he had drunk enough to forget this much, he would be suffering the effects of a hangover now.

He found his sister snoring in her room and shook her until she aimed a punch at his face. Expertly dodging it, he asked, "Hey, Mizuho, how'd I get in here?"

"What are you talking about?" She buried herself deeper under her blankets. "Get out, or I'll hurt you."

Keigo shrugged and obeyed. So Mizuho hadn't seen him being brought in; it was done in secret. He'd never been what one called popular, so he doubted this was the work of a stalker. How could a stalker make him lose his memory, anyway? That left only one possibility in his mind. Something must have happened with the spirit world, something that had resulted in his memory being erased.

Suddenly Keigo had a grin on his face; maybe Rukia-chan was the one who had carried him in here. He hoped so. If it was her, he wondered what way she would have carried him. He suddenly remembered seeing her knock Ichigo out and drag his body from a classroom, wearing a polite smile as if it was nothing. A chuckle bubbled in his throat. That was a long time ago.

He wondered how Ichigo was doing now. If Rukia was in Karakura, surely she would have at least spoken to him, even if it was a hassle to get a fake body. He hoped so, anyway.

At school, Keigo found Ichigo on the roof during lunch. He greeted his friend by jumping on his back from behind, obstructing Ichigo's sight with hands that were slightly oversized on his small wrists. "Guess who!" he ordered, speaking as low as he could make his voice go.

"Keigo, get the hell off."

Keigo got off, secretly pleased. Ichigo's muscles were more relaxed than they had been in a long time - he would guess it had been over a year. He had been greeting Ichigo like this regularly ever since Ichigo lost his spiritual abilities. It was his only way to check on how Ichigo was doing, because Ichigo was seldom verbally open.

"How are you, Ichigo?" he asked innocently.

"Fine," said Ichigo. "Did you have fun talking to Shuu-san?"

Keigo looked at him strangely. "Who?"

"Forget it," Ichigo said, and Keigo wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but his orange-haired friend sounded almost relieved.

Keigo shrugged acceptingly. He didn't really care that Ichigo wasn't offering an explanation for what had happened or why his memory was gone. It was enough that his friend was happy and relaxed again after so long. But he did have one question.

"So, where's Rukia-chan?" After a pause he smiled disarmingly.

Ichigo just looked at him.

"It's not like I don't know about them," Keigo complained, as if there was anyone else on the roof to hear the word shinigami. "Why are you always so secretive? You think you're such a cool guy, but really you're kind of a jerk, you know?"

Ichigo laughed. Keigo's face was ridiculous when he feigned anger.

Keigo grinned; Ichigo didn't laugh much. "Seriously, though, where is she?"

"She's not here, if that's what you mean," Ichigo replied. "So you won't see her. Sorry."

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying."

"I know she's here."

"She was here."

"…So I'm not good enough for her to see me, but you are? In other words, she thinks you're better than me? Oh, cruel world!" Keigo lamented. "Why wasn't I born with that striking orange hair? Maybe then I would be noticed!"

The only response was the sound Ichigo's juicebox made as it was drained.

Keigo smiled again, though he really had wanted to see Rukia. In the familiar environment, it was easy for his mind to call up images of former days. He remembered asking Ichigo on this rooftop whether he was lonely – it hadn't been so long ago, yet that time now seemed part of a distant past. "Like hell I'd be," Ichigo had said. He had denied it without making eye contact, and Keigo had pretended to believe Ichigo's explanation.

That day there had been no rain, yet Keigo had held the strange impression that the clouds were forcing themselves not to cry. He and Ichigo were in the same place now, yet the atmosphere today was far sunnier.

"Ichigo, you're happy. I know you're happy. Stop scowling."

"Yes, I'm happy. But no, I'm not going to smile at you. That would be weird."

"True."

"And I'm not scowling. This is my face."

"Oh, it's your face…" Keigo opened his lunch and blew on his soup to cool it. As he ate, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his back. He turned to Ichigo. "Today's a good day, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Tomorrow will be too."

Ichigo wondered what Keigo was getting at. "Yeah," he conceded.

"It's because you're in love with Rukia-chan." Keigo was amused to see Ichigo's brown eyes widen before the redhead scowled. (This time it was certainly not just his face.)

"…"

"You don't know what to say. I suggest 'yeah.'" Keigo grinned, not caring whether Ichigo was about to hit him.

Ichigo looked away, his face composed. "…Matsumoto-san said she wanted to see you."

"As if I'd fall for that, you liar."

"Yeah, that one was a lie."

"Jerk! How dare you raise my hopes like that!"

"I thought you said you didn't fall for that…"

"I didn't, but you still got my hopes up."

"Sorry," Ichigo said, looking more relieved to have escaped the topic than he looked sorry.

Keigo decided not to press the issue again. Yet. "So, have you decided what you're going to do for a job yet?"

"That again." Ichigo considered for a moment. "I don't know if you can call it a job. But I do know what I want to do."

Keigo thought of suggesting that what Ichigo wanted to do was propose to Rukia, but effortfully restrained himself because Ichigo was being open about himself for once. "What's that?"

"Help people," Ichigo said. His eyes were bright with resolution, and Keigo could see that the words came from his heart. "Now that my powers are back, I can protect both the living and the dead as a shinigami."

No wonder Ichigo seemed so much better. "Congratulations," Keigo said, eyes uncharacteristically serious. "I mean it."

"Thanks."

They sat in peace, drinking in the orange sun, the bright sky and a light breeze - the best weather Karakura had seen after an eternity of dull grey. The sun was rotating and the world was moving forward. In this quiet afternoon, Keigo's mind relaxed so much that he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Ichigo was thinking of the sky of another world.

Finally the bell broke the silence, bringing Keigo out of his sleep. As they headed back inside, Keigo thought to himself that Ichigo hadn't so much as tried to deny he was in love with Rukia.