Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, sadly.

11:30pm, July 15th, Kuchiki residence.

Ichigo's birthday party was now in full-swing. He had been picked up by Ishida at 8.30 as planned, not a minute later, as his bespectacled friend has always been a stickler for punctuality. And now, hours later, here they were at the Kuchiki's "house". Although in reality, calling it a house was like saying crocodiles could fly. When they had first pulled up at the residence, Ichigo's jaw had gotten a little slack, as he looked upon what was practically a mansion. The property belonged to the parents of his good friend Rukia, and her older brother Byakuya. In all honesty Ichigo was surprised that Byakuya agreed to Rukia's request, as it's no secret that he and Ichigo don't exactly see eye-to-eye about a lot of things. And for some unknown reason that Ichigo couldn't fathom, his best friend Renji had some deep longing for the uptight bastard, and from what Ichigo has seen of their interactions, he had an inkling that perhaps those bizarre feelings were reciprocated. Not that the long-haired man would ever admit to liking someone as loud, brash and with an almost frighteningly similar personality to Ichigo, as Renji Abarai. Despite not understanding exactly what it is about that stern exterior of Byakuya's that Renji seems so attracted to, Ichigo had never once felt disgusted about his red-headed friend's sexual preference. In fact, he had been raised in a very tolerant household and had always strongly believed that you can't choose who you fall for. Mainly because he really could never understand why someone as beautiful and mellow as his mother could've fallen for someone so eccentric as his goat-faced dad. Love works in mysterious ways, after all.

The party was just meant to be attended by his friends, but one of the downsides of living in such a close-knit community was the fact that news travels fast. Like faster than a speeding bullet. So, unsurprisingly, other people had started arriving, claiming to be friends or classmates of the birthday boy's. Funnily enough, he barely recognised any of them. Though the gate-crashers did tend to bring over a drink or two... like a couple bottles of beer, some fruity cocktails, followed by a few vibrantly coloured shots... so inevitably he was quickly getting shit-faced. The ever-serious Ishida warned him to slow down a bit, but two of his other friends, Inoue and Matsumoto, responded by pouring him more drinks. Their combined philosophy of "some is good, more must be better" applied to pretty much everything in their lives. Inoue, for example, loved coming up with weird recipes. She could take a delicious food, such as ice cream, then make it into something entirely inedible by adding kippers and ketchup. How on earth she manages to keep such a fine physique despite her incredible appetite was one thing that always perplexed Ichigo. Matsumoto, on the other hand, could handle her liquor better than most men, a talent she often used to its fullest. So perhaps Ichigo should've taken more caution rather than following their advice, but here he was on his 21st birthday, surrounded by his closest friends, so what could possibly happen?

12:45am, July 16th, Kuchiki residence

The birthday boy was swaying from side-to-side, absent-mindedly trying to hum along to whatever dubstep song was currently playing. Yes, he was very much drunk at this point. His eyes had glazed over slightly and he had managed to tune out all the voices around him, which proved to be a mistake as something warm and firm had abruptly knocked into him, sending him crashing backwards. Unfortunately, as the room was fairly packed with other swaying bodies, the orangette had accidentally thumped into a third person who cursed in response, almost immediately followed by the sound of glass shattering on the wooden floor. To his horror, the person he had bumped into was a notorious prick at his college, named Nnoitra. Under normal circumstances Ichigo would keep a safe distance from someone such as him, whose only purpose in life seems to be bullying those weaker than him, but yet here he was, standing face-to-face with the piano-toothed thug. In his drunken stupor, Ichigo had barely enough time to register what had just happened when the tall, lanky man, raised his right fist and lunged towards him while slurring some profanities. Luckily for Ichigo, his reactions had always been faster than most thanks to his father's undying appreciation for martial arts, so even in his inebriated state he was able to (just barely) dodge out the way, causing the hot-headed thug to tumble forwards, taking down some other unsuspecting soul as he fell to the ground. Normally the strawberry would've felt some remorse for causing someone else to be drawn into a scuffle, although due to their positioning he presumed that the man who was now pinned onto the floor was actually the one who had inadvertently knocked into him to begin with, causing the whole ordeal. So as far as Ichigo was concerned they were all as guilty as each other, so he decided to make a swift exit but was startled to find his ankle stuck. He looked down confused, trying to focus his fuzzy eyes, when he saw a large hand wrapped tightly around him.

Hearing loud cussing and shuffling movements, he watched as Nnoitra pushed himself up then readied himself in a fighting stance, expecting another attack, but much to his surprise the taller man had turned his back to him, and instead was trying to help the other guy up as if they knew each other. That's when it dawned on him that the person holding his foot wasn't Nnoitra, instead it was the other man still sprawled out on the floor. Ichigo looked down at him, with an expression that clearly screamed 'what the fuck you holding onto me for?', to which he just got a devilish smirk in response. For a moment he felt his chest tighten, almost as if his ribcage had shrunk, not leaving his heart enough room to beat.

The room was almost pitch-black, except for the seizure-enducing spotlights that Renji had put up, so Ichigo couldn't even tell what colour the guy's hair was, or what colour those lustful eyes that were practically undressing him where he stood were. That didn't stop him from shuddering underneath that intense gaze though. Ichigo had to mentally slap himself for feeling like a flustered idiot, some guy was currently eye-raping him and he was just letting that happen? 'Oh hell no', he told himself, and returned the stare, his eyebrows deepening further than usual, his trademark scowl firmly in place. The man before him let out a loud bark of laughter, stunning the strawberry for a moment as he wondered if the guy knew he was trying to glare daggers at him or if he was just mocking him, then to his relief he felt his ankle being released.

Now that both men stood before Ichigo, he felt his breath hitch in his throat as he looked up at the cheeky bastard who had caused this whole mess. Playful eyes gazed back down at him, looking deep into Ichigo's chocolate orbs, when suddenly a shadow blocked the intense stare. Not surprisngly, Nnoitra was still feeling angered and he had once again prepared to attack, but was pulled backwards before having something whispered to him. A scowl that almost rivalled Ichigo's own appeared on the aggressor's face, who after a moment of considering what was spoken to him, shrugged his shoulders and lunged towards Ichigo anyway. The friend had once again tried to detain the lanky one, agitation now etched on his handsome face, but was beaten to the punch by Ichigo. Literally. The strawberry had gotten tired of all the abuse that was flowing from the skinny cretin, so he had taken matters into his own hands by firmly planting his fist right into his stomach. He didn't like hitting people in the face, mainly because that often caused nosebleeds or teeth flying out, and frankly he didn't want to dirty his own hand with other people's bodily fluids. So he often opted for the stomach instead as it was nice and fleshy.

Nnoitra stumbled backwards clutching his gut, then once again propelled himself toward the increasingly annoyed berry. Closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh, in hopes of calming his anger, Ichigo simply kicked forwards, knocking Nnoitra's legs from out underneath him. As he fell onto the floor in a rather ugly heap, Ichigo's eye twitched as he heard that same bark of laughter from above him. Looking upwards slightly, as that bastard was a good few inches taller than him, he saw the man from earlier still openly leering at him and his mouth curled up into a smirk. "Mmm, you're fiesty, ain't ya Strawberry", the man spoke in an infuriatingly smooth tone. Pure anger, mixed with a hint of embarrassment, flashed across Ichigo's features as he physically tensed at that stupid nickname. He didn't even know this guy so how the hell did he know that's what his name means!? Well, it was his party after all, and all the other gate-crashers had correctly identified him as the birthday boy, so it wasn't too surprising that his name was probably known by everyone at this point. Still, it pissed him off to no end that some strange guy was making fun of him.

He turned to leave, when his arm was now held in that same tight grip. Sighing loudly, he turned faster than he thought possible, and swung his other fist in an attempt to knock the guy off, but to his surprise his fist had actually been caught mid-swing. Gaping for a moment, Ichigo let his defenses down and so wasn't prepared for the sudden pressure he felt against his mouth. Slightly chapped lips brushed against his own, and a moist tongue flicked and licked at his lower lip hungrily. Blinking, he realised the guy infront of him had shortened the distance between them to nothing, and had successfully stolen a kiss from him. For a brief moment, Ichigo felt himself get swept away by the sheer audacity of this stranger, but when he accidentally let a soft whimper escape his mouth, he snapped back to reality. Blushing furiously, he pulled away, furrowed his brows and glared again, as for some reason he couldn't even string together a few words.

"I like ya eyes, they're fiery... like ya got some hidden passion in 'em", the man before him drawled out, that ever-so-confident smirk returning to his face once more. Ichigo's cheeks felt like they were just seconds from melting into nothing, as the heat radiating off them could rival the sun's own warmth. He finally managed to open his mouth to tell this arrogant guy where to shove his opinion, when the other man added, "Shame ya outfit kinda distracts from 'em though." He gave the orangette another quick glance from head-to-toe then lingered his gaze upon the huge, feathery, glittering badge adorning Ichigo's chest, before continuing, "after all, it looks like a care bear threw up all over ya..." At this point, the vein that was already popping in Ichigo's head was almost ready to explode, and he successfully landed a punch right into that guy's face. Scratch what he said before about not dirtying his own hand, that bastard deserved to have his perfect face smashed. Luckily for Ichigo, the man hadn't expected to be hit so hard, so once again he fell backwards and Ichigo took that moment to escape. He didn't want to be around that jackass for one moment longer.

A/N: Well here's part 2! A lot longer than the first chapter, and hopefully much more interesting too. I hadn't planned to release this chapter so soon, but I was so touched that one person had favourited (not sure if that's even a real word but you know what I mean!) this story just a couple of hours after I had published it, and another had chosen to follow it! I honestly hadn't expected anyone to even bother reading this, so thank you both very much. No reviews so far unfortunately... but I guess there isn't much to judge in the first chapter as not much happens... sorry about that O.o I just wanted to create the premise for this, so that's why it's kinda rubbish so far. But it will improve!

Next part will be about the morning after, with Ichi having to piece together the previous night's events :3 I've tried to keep the mystery man's identity a secret, though I think there's been a lot of obvious hints so far. If anyone can guess then please leave a comment ^_^

Thanks for reading~!