Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter 2: School on Fridays, the Bad and the Good

Walking up to the gates of the school grounds, I walked straight into Izuru Kira. My face hit the center of his chest, and I stumbled backwards, blinking hard at the contact. My feet eventually lost contact with the ground as I struggled to regain my balance, and I landed right on my butt on the brick sidewalk. Izuru extended his hand gently to pull me up next to him. I ignored it and stood up myself.

I used to be good friends with Izuru, but he has asked me out so many times I can't think of any more ways to reject him. He's hot, I guess, with his floppy blond hair, piercing eyes, and perfectly angular face, but he began to stalk me after I rejected him for a tenth time. It's become a problem, his obsession, and it kind of freaks me out.

Lately, he's tried to patch our friendship back together and apologize, but I'm still scared of him and his stalking abilities. Somehow, Izuru managed to take a picture of me wearing nothing but a towel, and snapped another picture of just my underwear.

It's a problem that he's one of Ichigo's friends, so anything interesting I say in a conversation with Ichigo is automatically reported to Izuru. Looking my body up and down, almost undressing me with his eyes, Izuru stared at me for a few seconds before opening his mouth. "Hey there Rukia. You wanna go out after school today? I'm sure I could find a nice-" Ichigo had grabbed my arms at this point- I was already in the motion to swat Izuru for asking me out another time. I had warned him about a week earlier that if he asked me out again, I would get a restraining order put on him.

As Ichigo hauled me away from the scene before I could punch Izuru right in the mouth, we heard a tinkling laugh from a few feet away.

Shit.

Orihime Inoue was walking up the street near us, her beautiful auburn hair swinging behind her back, strands hanging around her face. Her uniform was just the right size, and accentuated all her curves and her tiny waist. Thin muscular legs poked out from the bottom of her skirt, and the radiant smile on her perfect face was making guys swoon. Except Ichigo. He's over her. Thank God.

Orihime had hooked up with Ichigo last year at- you guessed it!- my sixteenth birthday party. The most awkward moment of my life was when I went to find Ichigo so that he could help me send everyone home, and he was shoving his tongue down Orihime's throat on a couch in my living room. Byakuya was standing right behind me, having just gotten back to the apartment. He was not pleased either.

Needless to say, Byakuya continues to have a low opinion of Ichigo for ever "hooking up with a girl who looks like a stripper and acts like a crazy airhead". Byakuya's words, not mine.

Ichigo and Orihime apparently enjoyed their makeout session though, because they dated for another six months before Ichigo called it off. He told me later, "I'm so glad I ended our relationship when I did. Orihime's weirder than my dad and bitchier than Karin after she loses a baseball game." I had been jealous all throughout their relationship, mainly because Ichigo was spending less time with me and more time with her. I was, in a word, overjoyed that he broke up with her.

Unfortunately, Orihime is gorgeous, incredibly smart, charismatic, and has all the guys in our school dropping at her feet. All qualities that should make up the most popular girl. However, around me she turns into a complete bitch without any notice. For some reason, she hates me and, since we were in kindergarten, has spent any possible moment humiliating me.

In second grade, Orihime glued my pants to my chair, and they ripped when I stood up. A diabolical plan for an eight year old. The guys in my class never quite forgot the look on my face when I realized my underwear was exposed. In sixth grade, she bribed Shuhei Hisagi to paint my clothes with random stripes in art class. Since we started high school, I have been shoved against a wall, tripped, poked, slapped, and insulted, and Orihime has attempted to turn the rest of the grade against me as well.

It's alright though. Tatsuki Arisawa, one of Orihime's best friends and the most respected girl in our grade, can't understand why Orihime hates me so much. With a few words, she was able to convince the other kids in my grade not to bully me with Orihime. People always listen to Tatsuki, so Orihime is stuck bullying me by herself. Not that anyone is really willing to stand up for me though, and risk angering Orihime further.

Once, good person that she is, Tatsuki found me crying in the bathroom one day after Orihime had stolen my phone and broken it. She told me that Orihime has always loved Ichigo, and that she is jealous of how close I am to him. That doesn't exactly explain why she's hated me since kindergarten though. Personally, I just think she's a bitch who needs someone to hate in order to function.

About a month ago, Orihime had sent me a threatening text warning to stay away from Ichigo. She had sent a picture of Ichigo and me sitting side by side in a little cafe drinking hot chocolate, and had attached a caption: "This scene better not happen again". I had ignored the message, but had a sinking feeling that Orihime wasn't satisfied.

Even though I tell Ichigo everything, and he definitely knows what happens between Orihime and me, I never talk about being bullied. Talking about it to anyone, especially Ichigo, would only make the situation more real.

During the time he and Orihime were dating, the bullying lessened. I'm guessing he spoke to Orihime about hurting me, and she agreed to tone it down while they were together. She really liked him while they were dating, and probably just didn't want Ichigo to break up with her. After their relationship was over, the bullying got worse. It was almost as if Orihime was venting her anger over the breakup at me.

Skirting carefully around Orihime- I was mostly safe from her whenever Ichigo was around- he and I continued along our path until we met more groups of people pouring into the school grounds.

Ichigo branched off to walk into school with his guy friends Renji, Uryu, and Chad. Renji is a good friend of mine- Byakuya, being anally proper, hates the tribal tattoos Renji has plastered all over his body. Chad is huge and jacked, with curly brown hair and tan skin he shows off through his uniform. Uryu, a relatively normal, smart guy who wears hot glasses, has been dating Orihime for a few months now. Walking up to her briskly, he grabbed her face and made out with her for about a minute until people started coughing in embarrassment. I turned around and Toshiro kissing Momo's cheek before he headed to the group of guys too. Everywhere I looked these days, it seemed like there were couples.

I remembered suddenly the only boyfriend I'd ever had, Kaien Shiba. We were together for four months and two days before we decided we had nothing in common and needed to break up. I missed having a significant other in my life. The closest thing I had now was Ichigo, and he was like my brother and couldn't count as a boyfriend.

"At the moment Rukia," I heard Momo's voice say worriedly, "you look kinda spaced out. Are you sure you're alright? If you're not, I can get the nurse. No wait! If you're gonna faint, the best thing to do is lie down here and..."

I drowned her out. I love Momo. She's the only person I know who can go off on a rant about hair care products and then randomly switch to a normal conversation about a hot guy. She loves to talk and never shuts up. Anything from the weather to TV to the zoo, Momo will find some way to drag any random topic up in a conversation. On top of all that, she can be a huge worrywart, which explains her freaking out about me possibly fainting. I bet Toshiro gets an earful every day.

She's cute though, so no one really finds her excessive use of her vocal cords annoying. Her two dads Sosuke and Gin (Momo was adopted when she was about ten from foster care) think her talking is the cutest thing about her, especially as they don't talk themselves. They are perfectly content to let her blabber on all day while they, being crazily obsessed parents, film her with a video camera.

Soi Fon, our other best friend, interjected loudly, her braids dancing. "Momo, shut the fuck up! I can't hear myself think with you jabbering like some wild bird! Rukia is NOT sick and she is NOT, I repeat, NOT going to faint!"

That's Soi Fon for you. Blunt, loud, and expressive. She never holds back.

My three friends and I have often been mistaken for triplets, and I can see why. We look alike somewhat and act alike. We are all relatively small and have black hair of various lengths- Soi Fon's is long and luxurious, Momo's is wavy and rests on her chest, and mine is shoulder length. The similarities end there though. My eyes are huge and a strange violet-blue color, while Soi Fon's are smaller and set further apart. Momo's mouth is larger than mine and her lips are fuller.

Momo is also the prettiest of us three, and the one who gets the most guys. Toshiro, though she's more serious about him than she's been about any other guy, is boyfriend number sixteen. We joke and say she's had one boyfriend for every year she's been alive.

Tatsuki and Orihime's other best friend, Rangiku Matsumoto, ran up behind me to meet her as she stood on the sidewalk surrounded by admirers. Tatsuki waved and screamed, "Hey Rukia! Wassup?" before dashing after Rangiku, whose strawberry blond hair was floating in a cloud behind her.

Rangiku, if it was possible, was even curvier than Orihime. Her breasts, quite literally, were exploding out of her uniform. She knew how to use her curves and bright blue eyes to get anything she wanted, and no one could ever resist her. Right now, three guys were offering to do her math homework while a few other girls were practically throwing money at her so she could buy a coffee before school started. She was worshipped.

Tatsuki, on the other hand, was easily my favorite of the three girls. She was the brains and brawn of the group, and had beauty as well. The perfect combination and balance of qualities, Tatsuki knew how to keep the popularity order stable and how to manage both crazy Orihime and flirty Rangiku. Keeping the two of them in line with an iron fist and still managing to be the best at everything she did, Tatsuki unsurprisingly had been voted our student council president three years in a row.

She and Ichigo trained at the same dojo, and had been close friends since they were little. Her black pixie cut was held back by two cute barrettes, and her uniform was worn pristinely and flawlessly, accentuating her perfect skin.

Everyone referred to Tatsuki as 'the Shadow Queen' because of her ability to control the grade behind the scenes. Although Orihime may have appeared to be the Princess of the grade, we all knew Tatsuki was the brains of any operation the three girls pulled.

Orihime walked up to me. My brain went dead. "Oh shit." She shooed away any onlookers with a casual wave of her French manicured nails. Soi Fon turned to leave, but Momo pulled her elbow to keep her in place. "We're not going anywhere Orihime."

"Girls," Orihime had the most condescending look on her face, "I just need to talk to Rukia for a minute. Isn't that right Rukia?"

I smiled fakely at Momo and Soi Fon, gesturing with my eyes for them to leave me and keep moving towards the school buildings. Momo saw right through my smile, and sadly gave me one of her own, trying to inject me with some strength. Soi Fon shot a quick glare at Orihime before squeezing my hand gently as she walked away.

Orihime waited until everyone was out of earshot before pulling out her phone and showing me another picture. Clearly photoshopped, it showed me snuggling into Ichigo's chest, his shirt off. Vaguely, I wondered if she had ever used photoshop before editing this picture. It was so obviously fake that I nearly laughed, until I saw her expression.

She was angry. I could tell that much. Pushing me into the gate roughly, she whispered in my ear, "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you and Ichigo together anymore."

I looked her dead in the eyes and said, "If you're so stupid you can't even tell when a photo's been edited, you have no right to tell me to stay away from my BEST FRIEND."

Shaking slightly, her breath hitting the inside of my ear, she spoke again, her voice low and deadly. "Shut up bitch. We all know you're in love with Ichigo. Now stay away from him for good, or Momo and Soi Fon will have nasty rumors spread about them to every person in the school. You may not care if I insult you, but you sure as hell will care when I destroy your friends."

Smiling brightly, quite a change from her glare a few seconds before, she laughed prettily. "See you later Rukia! It was great talking to you!" Skipping, she dashed around the school gates to catch up with Tatsuki and Rangiku.

Shaken by Orihime's words, I stumbled into the main school building, preparing ourselves for another boring morning assembly. I refused to register her comments in my brain. "We all know you're in love with Ichigo." I slapped my head lightly, trying to chase the idea out. Don't think about it. Wait until you get home to think and plan.

"At least it's Friday," I thought to myself, "I can lounge at home the entire weekend and do absolutely nothing." After today's experience and last weekend, when Ichigo dragged me around the entire city following his sister Karin and her friends to make sure she didn't get into any trouble, I was perfectly ready for a no-moving weekend.

Apparently, last Saturday Karin (who is gloomy and slightly punk) had planned an outing with some of her friends to go to an arcade and to lunch. Overprotective Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father, somehow managed to convince Ichigo that "going to an arcade" was teen lingo for smoking pot. Since Karin is only thirteen, I don't know why Ichigo or his father could ever think Karin would gain access to drugs.

In any case, Ichigo forbid me from going on my Saturday early morning jog, and instead forced me to meet him at his house right before Karin left. We stalked his sister and her friends for five hours and moved across most of the city, watching Karin actually go to an arcade and whip her friends' asses at Call of Duty.

Eventually, Karin noticed Ichigo's bright hair peeking out from the tree we were currently hiding behind. To make a long story short, she nailed him with a perfect punch right to the face, and then kicked him in the gut before he could even blink an eye. I took that as my cue to leave and go home for the rest of the day.

Assembly. Teachers lecturing us in class. A few hours of darting into classrooms, wanting to avoid Orihime in the hallway. The first few periods of the day rolled by leisurely until, finally, it was lunchtime. Angry that, on top of everything else, I had failed a pop quiz on the history reading assignment I had never finished on the subway, I stalked over to my usual lunch table and hurled my backpack down carelessly to mark my seat.

Momo softly sat next to me and, caressing a shiny red apple lightly with her teeth, bit down into it. Her lip gloss smeared over the apple skin in the shape of her lips.

"You know Rukia, you've been a little angrier than usual these past few days."

"How so?"

Ignoring my question, she asked, "Did something happen I should know about?" Expecting an answer, her eyes widened and and begged me to give her details. At all costs, I wanted to keep my the details of my encounter with Orihime this morning from her.

Last year, Momo found Orihime insulting me in the hallway, and grabbed her arm when Orihime went to slap me. Because Momo interfered with the fight, Orihime spread so many nasty rumors about Momo's sexuality over the internet that she nearly left the school. I never want Momo to have to go through that experience again, so I try to tone down anything major that happens with Orihime. Momo probably still sees everything that Orihime does to me, but if I don't tell her myself, I can at least try to convince myself that Momo has no idea.

"I've been so tired lately- schoolwork is catching up with me. Plus, in a few days it's Hisana's birthday. You know I always break down about this time of year."

Every year on Hisana's birthday, Byakuya and I head down to the cemetery and have a picnic in front of her grave. Nothing fancy, just some sandwiches and lemonade. We think, wherever Hisana is now, she's happy to see us at her grave every year helping her celebrate her birthday. It's a little tradition we picked up from the Kurosaki family.

Ichigo and his family, on the anniversary of his mom's death, have a family outing to her grave. The day we buried Hisana's body, Ichigo and his family came along and brought lunch. At first, Byakuya was concerned about disrespecting the dead, but the Kurosakis convinced him- and me- that our dead family members would want to see us smiling and having fun. And if we could have fun around their graves, it's like the dead person is still part of the family.

This year, Byakuya and I had already planned our meal. Three courses- fruit salad, tuna melts, and strawberry cheesecake. He had bought the ingredients yesterday, and the day before the picnic the two of us would spend hours in the kitchen, laughing over my inability to cook.

As soon as the bell rang and I was released from my prison of a classroom, my phone started playing a random mixed tape of songs I had recently downloaded. From the caller ID, I knew it was my brother.

"Hey Byakuya. Did you need something?"

"No Rukia. I just wanted to let you know that I have a quick doctor's appointment today after work, so I won't be home until late. You can order take out for dinner- just remember to save me some." A small laugh ran at the end of his voice.

"Can I order from Shelly's?" I asked, naming the cozy diner Byakuya usually took me to for the best chicken wraps in the world.

"Don't go overboard. You have a budget."

"Sounds great!" I chirped, now excited for dinner and the prospect of at least ending my day well. "Thanks a bunch Byakuya! See you when you get home!"

I heard him laugh again on the other end right before he hung up.

Once I called Ichigo and told him that I didn't have to be home until later, I insisted on taking him out for an afterschool snack. Finding him talking with Chad at the subway entrance, I grabbed his arm and dragged him, colorful curses flying from his mouth as his feet hit the rough staircase, towards the train.

"Rukia. What the fuck is with you today? STOP FUCKING DRAGGING ME AROUND. I was busy."

"YOU KNOW WHAT ASSHOLE?" I yelled at him, "I HAD A REALLY CRAPPY DAY TODAY AND ALL I NEED IS YOU SWEARING AT ME! I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR ONCE!"

Just a normal interaction between us. In love with Ichigo...in love with Ichigo. Now that I was alone with him, I allowed my mind to dwell on the thought a little. Were our fights full of sexual tension? I had never thought so before. When I looked at him, did I get butterflies in my stomach? No, not usually. Was I jealous of his relationships at all? Only when he was with Orihime. I didn't think I liked him. Did I? Now I was just making myself more confused.

Staring at him more closely now, I noticed how his hair fell in front of his eyes, obscuring his vision. Apparently, I leaned in too close to see his eyes, because next thing I knew Ichigo' hand was waving in front of my face, trying to keep me from spacing out.

Off the train and walking down the street of our district, surrounded by small apartment buildings and cozy restaurants, Ichigo snatched my hand from my right pocket and pulled me in front of an ice cream stand. He's holding my hand. Does that mean he likes me? Wait, that's what he always does.

Three minutes later, we were happily slurping on cones of two scoops of cookie dough with sprinkles.

Sitting next to each other on a park bench, my right shoulder leaning against Ichigo's chest and his arm wound across my back, his hand massaging my left arm softly, I felt content. I stopped deciding whether I liked him or not. The sky was still light, I was eating ice cream, and I was warm with Ichigo's heat. I didn't feel the need to talk about anything, even though the problem with Orihime was dwelling in the back of my mind.

No problems, no conflicts. Not when he's with me.