Hi everyone, this is my first story here and so positive criticism and advice is fully welcome! I just want to say that I do not own Bleach! I did make up the characters Dan, Fukashi, and Tai for the sake of this chapter though.

For contextual purposes, this chapter is supposed to occur before the SS arc. To be even more specific, this is supposed to happen right before ch. 34 in the manga, which is after the Don Kanonji's TV show incident and rumors of Rukia and Ichigo are just starting to circulate around Karakura High School.

Oh and anything in italics are supposed to be Ichigo's internal thoughts. Well, I think that's all I have to say, enjoy!

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Unscene Moments

Ch. 1: Rumors

As soon as lunch period had begun, Ichigo and Rukia had gone off to take care of a hollow that had appeared down the street from the school. It had been a fairly weak hollow and didn't take too much time to dispose of, but had still left Ichigo with less than fifteen minutes for the remainder of his lunch. As soon as they had gotten back, he had ducked into the boys' bathroom to wash up.

Ichigo flushed the toilet and stepped out of the stall. He breathed out a shallow sigh and frowned. Damn, late for lunch with the guys again. He made his way to the sink to wash his hands when the boys' bathroom door opened and two guys from his classroom walked in laughing and chatting loudly.

"Hey Kurosaki-kun!" the taller one waved. Ichigo turned his head in the boy's direction and nodded in acknowledgement. The taller boy headed to a stall while the shorter one approached the sink beside Ichigo.

"Hey Kurosaki, me and Dan were just talking about Tai's party this weekend. You thinking about going?" the boy asked after giving a quick glance in the mirror and turning to lean on the sink.

"Probably not," Ichigo shrugged as he shook off the excess water from his hands and turned off the faucet. I hardly get time to eat anymore. Even if I wanted to go, Rukia would probably nag me to death about my duties before I even get to the party.

The boy next to Ichigo straightened and smiled at him, "I guess ha-ha. Nothing's ever cool enough for you." The boy turned back to the mirror and started fixing his hair. "Kurosaki, you've been friends with Tastuki-chan since you guys were kids, do you think if I ask her to go with me she'll say yes? I don't care what people say; a girl who's not afraid to swing a punch at another girl is sexy, ha-ha."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the boy's winking reflection and finished toweling off his hands at the dispenser. "Uh, sure Fukashi." was all Ichigo bothered to say.

The toilet flushed then and the taller boy, Dan, stepped out cheerily, "Kurosaki, you should come. With a girlfriend like Kuchiki-san on your arm, I'd show her off every chance I'd get!"

"Uh...what?" Ichigo froze just as he grasped the door handle to leave the bathroom. The usual crease between his brows deepened as he looked back at his classmates, unsure that he heard what he thought he heard.

Dan let out a snort at Ichigo's puzzled frown and continued, "Come on, Kurosaki. You two really don't think your relationship is secret now do you? It's so obvious when you two sneak off to be alone together." He washed his hands while the shorter boy, Fukashi, stood smirking at Ichigo. Dan chuckled and turned around, "Or when you guys were on TV together..."

"Me and Kuchiki-san aren't anything!" spat Ichigo defiantly. His eyes narrowed and a slight flush crept up his neck, unseen underneath the flipped up collar of his school uniform.

The two boys looked on him with blank expressions. Ichigo knew they were expecting more but all he could do was just stare back. His mouth gaped a bit and he was at a lost for words, unable to back himself up with a believable explanation for their constant departures together to battle hollows.

"Ha-ha, its okay Kurosaki-kun," laughed the shorter boy Fukashi breaking the awkward silence. He leaned back against the sink again, "I admit she's not my type, but if you like the sweet, timid girls it's nothing to be ashamed about."

The bathroom door swung open again, this time nearly hitting Ichigo in the face as another male student entered the bathroom. He had forgotten that his white-knuckled hand was still holding onto the door. Regaining his senses, Ichigo turned back to the two now grinning boys, this time with a fierce light burning in his amber eyes. "There's nothing going on between me and Kuchiki-san! She's the most annoying girl in the world, I can't imagine any guy liking her." At this he swung the door open once more and stalked out coldly.

Ichigo jammed his hands into his pockets as he strode down the hallway. He fumed to himself, "Pfft... sweet and timid? If she elbowed them in the gut or stomped on their foot as much as mine, they wouldn't use "sweet" or "timid" in the same sentence with Rukia...If she wouldn't drag me away so much at school, none of these idiots would think we were dating..." The corners of his lips curled up in a slight smirk. "Girlfriend? Rukia's dead, can she even be in a relationship...?"

"What's up Kurosaki, you look like you're in a good mood. That's different from your usual grimace, ne?"

A voice broke into his thoughts and Ichigo jumped. His friend Mizuiro had come up from behind while he had been consumed and was now walking in sync with him. Expecting an ambush hug or something of that sort, Ichigo glanced around for their other friend Keigo who was bound to be near by.

"Asano-san and Sado are already on the roof. I just came to get you," Mizuiro went on. "Here, I went through the trouble to get you your lunch from your locker," a brown paper bag was dropped into Ichigo's chest. "When Kuchiki-san dragged you from the classroom at the end of class, I went to your locker to check to see if you were eating lunch with her."

"Ah, no..." replied Ichigo. "You didn't have to wait for me Mizuiro," Ichigo said taking the bag. "Besides, why would I want to eat lunch with Kuchiki-san?" He grunted, "I see enough of her already."

"Mm, I understand," said his friend.

Ichigo glanced down on Mizuiro. At least he doesn't suspect anything. Ichigo was eased as they walked in silence, and was glad that he could relax around his friend.

They reached the end of the hallway and Mizuiro opened the door to the roof for Ichigo, a smile stretching across his face. "Don't worry Kurosaki, I of all people understand that making a woman happy can be very exhausting and we men need our time to recuperate," he chirped merrily.

"What?!" Ichigo nearly tripped himself walking up the stairs while trying at the same time to turn back and face Mizuiro. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Nothing, Kurosaki-kun. I just want you to know that I understand." Mizuiro put a hand on Ichigo's back and pushed him up the stairs despite Ichigo resisting.

"Iiiiiichiiiigoooooo!"

Ichigo shot his hand out. He palmed Keigo's face at arm's length as his flailing friend attempted to smother him. They had reached the top of the stairs at the roof and Mizuiro was already walking away towards the seated Chad, but Ichigo was not finished. "No, Mizuiro! You think me and Kuchiki are dating too, huh?! Who's spreading these idiotic rumours?! And it's not okay! I don't understand what you understand, nor do I want to understand!"

Mizuiro sat down and crossed his legs. He began to pull out his lunch from his own bag, "I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun, I guess I was mistaken. It's just, there's been so many people whispering about you two, I thought it had to be true. Right, Sado? You thought so too." Mizuiro nudged Chad in the side, who had been focusing intently on the last few bites of his sub. The giant that was their friend sat motionless, but then his one exposed eye rolled upwards toward Ichigo and his head fell foward into a confirming nod.

"Is it true?! Is it true, Kurosaki-kuuun?!" Keigo had managed to peel his face away and was now flailing in front of Ichigo at a comfortable distance. "You know I loooove Kuchiki-chaaan! How dare you steal her heart away from me! I was so close, I could feel her love turning towards my favor! And then you had to ..."

Ichigo slapped Keigo's accusatory finger out of his face and brushed past him to sit down beside Mizuiro. Keigo's dramatics had put Ichigo's own dramatics into perspective. "There's nothing going on between her and me, and never has been. She just constantly needs my help doing stupid things for her." Ichigo lazily looked up at Keigo who had stopped whining. "You saw her; she couldn't even put a straw into her juice box, and now she thinks I can do everything else for her." He bit into his unwrapped sandwhich, satisfied with his completely believable explanation.

Ichigo leaned back against the wall and tried his best to exude coolness. Looking from side to side, Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo were now looking back at him with renewed faith too. Good, he thought to himself.

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That's it! Nothing really all that interesting, but I'm glad I finally got that scenario out of my system. Personally, I think it's these little incidences are what make life funny, especially if it involves Bleach! If anyone has any future unscene moments from Bleach that would be fun to write about let me know!