Chapter 2 – Vasoline
A young, bright, and beautiful girl wakes up, with waist length auburn hair on an uneventful Wednesday morning, with plenty of vigor, excited on what this new day could hold.
Unfortunate for her, she also awoke thirty minutes late and was in danger of being late.
"Oh no!" she cried, throwing on her uniform, and putting a piece of bread in the toaster. She had a great breakfast, planned out and everything. And what's worst is that now, she would have to replace her beloved alarm clock...
It was just one of those mornings, in the household of Inoue Orihime.
It was even pure luck or pure awesome, but Ichigo knew that he was gifted. The Hollow raped and pillaged several houses and businesses, but the Kurosaki household was completely untouched.
"Great..." Ichigo said, sitting up in his bed when his door burst open.
"ICHI~GOOOOOO!" his father cried, leaping into the room. With narrowed eyes, Ichigo jumped out of his bed and repealed the attack.
"No sell," Ichigo said, in English, before throwing his father into a wall.
"Good job son!" Kurosaki Isshin said, flashing the thumbs up sign, "You gotten better! One day, you may even be able to challenge for the head of the Kurosaki family."
"No thanks," Ichigo said, grabbing his school uniform, "I'll rather be sane."
"Ichi-nii," Karin said, "Breakfast is done. Hurry up with the bathroom."
"Don't rush me, Karin," he said, "You know that won't end well." Karin rolled her eyes and walked down the stairs. Ichigo smiled at his early morning victory.
"God, today is going to be a good day."
"Onii-san, what kind of sauce do you want for your eggs and rice?" Kurosaki Yuzu asked, holding a bottle of Worcestershire and soy sauce up. Ichigo pointed toward the soy sauce, and Yuzu placed it on the table. Ichigo spun his chopsticks and dug in.
He felt as if the day was going to take a sharp turn toward the worse, but that did not bother him.
"Thank you for the meal, Yuzu," Ichigo said, slinging his bag's strap over his chest.
"Onii-san!" Yuzu shouted, "I'll see you after school!" Ichigo smiled, opening the front door.
"You will."
"Last night will never happen again..." Ichigo said to himself. Looking at the deep scars in the earth, caused by the Hollow attack. As strange and awesome the encounter was, the interruption cost him several hours of beautiful sleep, and that was bad.
Of course, the female spirit that was injured disappeared pretty much when the Hollow was killed, but that was probably for the best, seeing that she was pretty useless. Where she went, what does it matter to him.
He would never see her again, anyway...
"Ichigo! You gotta go with me!" Asano Keigo, one of Ichigo's best friends, shouted, "You haven't been much time with me or Mizuiro!"
"I haven't been spending that much time with you because I have a job," Ichigo said, taking a sip out of his can of coffee.
"Not today!" Keigo retorted.
"How do you know?"
"You told us a couple of days ago!" Ichigo eyes twitched.
"...I'll think about it..."
"That's what you said last time!"
"..." Ichigo sat back, defeated, "If nothing else comes up, I'll hang out with you..." Keigo smiled and pumped his fist in celebration. Kojima Mizuiro, the other half of the party that followed Ichigo around, took a chair and snapped his cell phone shut.
"Morning, Ichigo," he said. Ichigo grunted as a replied.
"I see you're in a cheery mood," Mizuiro said. Ichigo grunted again.
"I'm always in a cheery mood. Can't you tell?"
"No, I can't."
"Ah." Ichigo sighed. Mizuiro chuckled.
"I heard we have a new student today," he said.
"I hope it's a girl!" Keigo shouted. Ichigo rose his eyes.
Arisawa Tatsuki walked into the classroom, and Ichigo turned his head.
"Hello Arisawa..." he said, "Where's your little friend?" Tatsuki glared at him.
"She didn't swing by," she said, "She'll be here a little late..." As if on a waiting call, Inoue Orihime burst through the door, breathing heavily.
"Look's who's a little late," Ichigo said, with a smirk. Orihime snapped back and looked at Ichigo.
"Ah...s-sorry Kurosaki-kun!" she squeaked. Ichigo chuckled.
"First, I'm not the teacher, so you don't have to apologize. Second, you're not late."
"Oh..." she muttered, looking down, and blushing furiously, "Ah...Good morning, Kurosaki-kun..."
"Good morning, Inoue." With a bell, shortly after, the class had begun, as Ochi Misato, the teacher, walks in, and snapped her black notebook against her desk.
"Good morning, class!" she said, excitedly, "Today, we have a new student!"
"Yay," Ichigo said, flatly. Ochi-sensei ignored the remark, sliding open the door to allow her in. Ichigo looked up, and groaned internally, as she wrote her name on the chalkboard.
"Hello," she said, brightly, "My name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I'm pleased to be joining your class." Murmurs of "Oohs" and "Ahs" were heard, from the various male populace of the classroom. Ichigo sat back in his chair.
"Okay, then," Ochi-sensei said, "You can sit at the desk next to our rude orange friend." Ichigo shifted his eyes, opened his mouth, and prepared to offer a simple rebuttal that Rukia could not sit next to him because there was already a student sitting there before he decided to do something he hadn't done before since the school year began.
He decided to look to the seat to the right of him. And look at that, no one presided in the seat. Ichigo blinked.
"How did I not notice that before?" he asked himself. Rukia, with a bright smile, sat down and turned to the orange haired young man.
"Hello," she said, "What's your name?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"My name is Oda Nobakatsu, son of Oda Nobunaga," he said, drily. Rukia blinked. Ichigo noticed the confusion in her eyes and smiled.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" he said, with false enthusiasm, "I get so nervous around new students...My actual name is Ryuujin Shoukyaku. My name is so unbelievable, that I don't like sharing it..."
"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked, glaring at him.
"Ichigo! Are you harassing our new student!?" Ochi-sensei shouted, getting the attention of the boy.
"No, I'm not doing anything wrong..." Ichigo said, with a small smirk on his face. Ochi-sensei glared at him.
"You're doing the name thing again..." she said, "Rukia, his name is Kurosaki Ichigo."
"And this is why you don't have a boyfriend, Sensei..." Ichigo said, flatly. Ochi-sensei slammed her fist into her desk.
"And how do you know that!?" she growled. Ichigo smirked.
"The signs are all there, Sensei," he said, smugly, "You've been rather irritable lately. Has there been something missing in your life?..." Ochi-sensei nearly burst a blood vessel.
"...D-Do you want detention, or something?" she said, furious.
"Actually, I would very much like to avoid that."
"Then shut up..." Ichigo flashed her the "O.K" sign, and that was the end of that.
"I'm not helping you again..." Ichigo said, trying, and failing, to outpace the short female.
"But you must!" Rukia said, "You have to fight the Hollows!"
"Why?" he retorted. Rukia paused.
"You're the only one with the power to fight them!"
"And I don't care..."
"But then the Soul Society will become suspicious..." she pleaded, her voice carrying a tone of despair.
"And again, I don't care,"
"What if I told you that you could protect now only the spirits, but your friends too?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"First, I don't give a rat's ass about these spirits that have made my life suck for fifteen years. Second, I'm pretty damn confident that my friends are safe, thank you very much. Third, if you ever try that bullshit again, I will snap your neck in half. Now get out of here. You're wasting my lunch hour," he said, darkly. Rukia sighed.
"What about your life?" she said.
"I already told you, my life is unimportant."
"What can I do to make you go ahead with this?" Ichigo pondered.
"...I don't know..." he said, "What would you have me doing anyway?" Rukia jumped slightly, surprised at the sudden change in Ichigo's position.
"Um, you would kill Hollows and train a little," she said. Ichigo shook his head.
"How bout we cut out training..."
"But you...Okay..." she said, seceding her play. She knew she couldn't win.
"ICHIGO!" Keigo shouted, practically falling down the stairs, "Why didn't you...Oh...I see..." Ichigo rose an eyebrow.
"So Ichigo, already hitting on the new girl..." Mizuiro said. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"If you think I'm attracted to girls who look like twelve-year-old boys, you would be extremely mistaken," Ichigo said. Rukia's eye twitched.
"I do not!" she shouted.
"Whatever you say," Ichigo said, "Introduce yourself to my friends, you poor homeless girl. I'm going to enjoy my lunch."
"H-Homeless?" she said, shocked. Ichigo nodded.
"Yes. Homeless. One without a home, as they say..." With one last wave, Ichigo strolled off, bento box underneath his arm, leaving the bewildered girl, with two boys asking her about her situation.
"You were kidding about the homeless thing, right?" Rukia asked, as she threw another straight pitch, which Ichigo did not offer at.
"I wasn't," he said, bluntly, "You don't have a home. Thus, that makes you a member of the homeless community."
"Why can't I stay at your house!?" she shouted. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.
"No," he said, "First, where the hell are you going to sleep? Second, how is my family supposed to meet you?"
"You can introduce me to them..."
"BWAHAHAHAHA-no."
"Why!?"
"Then they will think that we're dating, and dating someone as unimpressive as you would hurt my own self-respect and self-value. I take great pride in my low social standing."
"Really?" Rukia deadpanned, throwing another pitch. Still no swing came from Ichigo.
"Nah. But honestly, it's not worth it."
"Then sneak me in. Then you won't have to introduce me to your family." Ichigo paused, then smiled.
"...You hussy," he said, "You just want my body. I bet that monster wasn't even real." Rukia blinked.
"W-What!?" She quickly tried to divert the conversation away, with another pitch, but Ichigo was not buying it.
"Admit it," he said, "No need to be shy. I won't judge you that badly."
"Why won't you swing that bat!" Rukia cried.
"Because I don't know what I should be doing."
"Swing at the Hollow heads!"
"Sounds complicated. Is there a way to tell the difference?"
"Yes actually!" she said, with a bright smile, "On the balls, there are faces and there are other body parts. You want to hit the faces, okay... " Ichigo narrowed his eyes, examined both of the drawings, then looked back up at Rukia.
"They're both identical," he said, flatly.
"What!? No, they are not!"
"Yes, they are. Quit being blind."
"Kurosaki-kun?" a soft, peaceful voice rang from behind the orange haired young man.
"Inoue, what's up?" Ichigo said, turning to face the young woman.
"Oh, I was just coming back from the grocery store, and I was just surprised to see you," she said, "I didn't know you come to this park."
"I don't," he said, "But this brat had to go all the way out here." Orihime stood on her toes, and saw Rukia, standing.
"Oh, Kuchiki-san," she said, brightly. For an instant, Rukia forgot where she was, and blurted out an uncouth, "Who are you?" Ichigo glared at the shorter female.
"Inoue Orihime. From our class, Kuchiki," he said, flatly. Rukia perked up.
"Oh, I almost didn't recognize you," Rukia said, sugaring up her tone, "I'm honored to meet you."
"Eh, so am I," Orihime said, nervously. Ichigo rolled his eyes. Then he noticed the bandaged, wrapped tightly around her shoulder.
"So...What's up with the arm?" Ichigo asked. Orihime perked up.
"Oh, I was just hit by a car last night!" she said, happily. Ichigo tilted his head, slightly."
"Really?" he said, "That seems a little serious. Don't you think you need medical attention?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she said, "It didn't hurt that much in school today."
"Well...That's good..." He noticed the bruise on her leg. Then he smirked.
"My, my, that is one gnarly gash on your leg, Inoue," Ichigo said, coming to a knee, "Are you sure that you don't need medical attention?"
"No, no, I'm fine!" she said, blush intensifying, "It probably happened last night! It doesn't hurt that much!" Ichigo took a firm grasp of the leg, provoking a shrill gasp, and the raising of a Rukia's eyebrow.
"Are you sure? Even in my lack of medical knowledge, I can see that this is a serious injury? Are you sure that you don't need to go see my dad?"
"I-I-I probably c-couldn't afford it!" she squealed, hiding behind her hands.
"It would be on the house."
"I'm sure, Kurosaki-kun..." Upon noticing that her face was as red as a tomato, Ichigo decided that his little game was over, and released his grip.
Okay, Inoue," he said, "If you say so..." Inoue gathered her groceries, clumsily, and bowed slightly.
"Ah, I'll see you tomorrow..." she said, trying to keep her mind from dancing around.
"Do you want me to walk you home?"
"Ah, y-you don't have t-to bother!"
"It's not a bother." Ichigo looked back at Rukia, who was surprisingly quiet, "It's no problem. Let me walk you home."
"Oh, it's f-fine!" Orihime stammered, trying to calm.
"Hmm...Okay...See you tomorrow..."
"Ah, and goodbye, Kuchiki-san!"
"Oh, thank you for your company!" Rukia said, sweetly. And with that, Orihime took her departure. Ichigo sighed.
"It seems like she has a new injury every day," he said, "Maybe she should be the one living in a clinic..." Rukia grinned.
"You like her," she said, poking Ichigo in the neck.
"What?"
"Someone has a little crush on the classroom beauty. Don't lie to me," she said, walking away from Ichigo.
"I don't have a crush on Inoue," he said.
"Sure you do, playing touchy feely with her. You perv. I can't believe you." Ichigo smiled.
"While, I can admit that I was a little personal with the contact, I can guarantee that I don't have a crush on Inoue."
"Well, do you at least find her attractive?"
"Kuchiki, there is not a man on this earth that will deny Inoue's beauty," he said, as his watch starting beeping.
"And, look at that, it's time for me to grace you with my exit."
"Where do you think that you're going?"
"None of your business. My friends have just gotten out of cram school, so I'm due to hanging out with them."
"I thought you didn't want to."
"I also didn't want to hang out with you, and look where we're at now..." Rukia glared at him, which Ichigo laughed at.
"When you pout, you look like a four-year-old," he said.
"You still have to train. And don't you have any other insults?"
"Yeah...About that...Your method of training is stupid so...Fuck your training," Ichigo said, flipping his bat, grabbing his backpack, and walking away.
"Come back here!" Rukia shouted. Ichigo replied by putting on his headphones. Rukia stomped the ground, to no avail.
In actuality, hanging out with Keigo and Mizuiro wasn't that bad. In fact, he really didn't mind doing so. But, all of those wasted study hours...
Ichigo sighed, drying his hair, before putting on a fresh t-shirt. He felt a tremor, quaking in the halls of his mind.
"Probably nothing..." he said, before opening the door, only to see his sister, Yuzu, standing.
"Hey Yuzu," he said, "You can have the bathroom now if that's what you want." Yuzu gasped.
"You already took your bath!" she shouted. Ichigo nodded.
"I wanted to take one with you!" she shouted. Ichigo sighed.
"Yuzu, you're eleven. You can take baths by yourself," Ichigo retorted.
"But we haven't spent that much time together..."
"But a bath together? Yuzu, as a high schooler, you don't know how unbelievably creepy it is to take baths with you younger siblings."
"But we're siblings! It doesn't matter!" Ichigo facepalmed a sigh.
"...Tomorrow, we'll do something," Ichigo said, "Just you and me. But not a bath, okay?" Yuzu's face lit up.
"Really?" she squealed. Ichigo, again, nodded.
"Okay!" she exclaimed, "You better not forget!" She then ran off, into her and her sister's room. Ichigo sighed and walked up to his room.
Out of all the negatives he had, chalked up on his big ol' board of Ichigo failures, his relationship with his sisters was not one. Kinda.
They were close. Too close. Ichigo tried to push them away, but they came back, clinging to his hip, and there was not anything Ichigo could do about it.
"This isn't going to work," he said. He knew that he was going to end up taking a bath with Yuzu eventually, and he dreaded it, but that was that. And he was going to have to choke up to the ladle, and accept that.
"God, I am such a pushover..." he said, sweeping his hand through his hair, "I guess I can get my clothes out before I go to bed..." Ichigo walked over to his closet, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open. And when the door opened, his face fell into a deep, dark frown.
"What the fuck are you doing in my closet?" he asked, a surprised Rukia, decked out in a pair of pajamas. More specifically, Yuzu's pajamas...
'First, stealing my closet. Now, stealing my sister's clothes. How far will you go?'
"We have to remain close together," Rukia said, "If a Hollow attacks, I need to be here, so you can kill it." Ichigo blinked.
"I'm going to ask again, this time much slower, so you can hear me. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing. In. My. Closet." Rukia blanched.
"Um...What else-"
"Come here..." Ichigo said as he opened his window.
"Why?"
"You're leaving. Now. And this is the best way out," he said, "Don't worry. I'll let you keep the clothes."
"I can't leave! Who's going to make sure to you attend your duties!?"
"I don't know, and I really don't care. You got to go." As soon as he finished, Rukia's cell phone blared loudly, attracting the attention of the room. Before Rukia got the chance to check it, Ichigo snatched the phone out of her hand, at looked at the screen. Then he narrowed his eyes.
"Hurry up," he growled, tossing her phone back. Rukia fumbled the catch-up, trying to put her fingerless glove on.
"Wait up! What's the worry anyway!?" Rukia asked.
"Just do it!" Ichigo shouted back, deeply.
Oh, what a night it had turned out to be...
"Are you stupid!?" Tatsuki shouted at her busty friend, "You had him all wrapped up, and you let him go!"
"How rude," Orihime said, "I'm not stupid. And besides, he was with Kuchiki-san..."
"More reason to take him!"
"But that would have been rude to Kuchiki-san!" Orihime whined. Tatsuki sighed.
"Do you even know why he was with her?" she asked. Orihime shook her head.
"I heard that Kuchiki-san was homeless...Do you think he was trying to lift her spirits?" Tatsuki narrowed her eyes.
"I don't know where you get this impression of Ichigo from..." she said, "The Ichigo I know would never do such a thing."
"So you say."
"So I know." A loud cry was heard from outside the tiny apartment.
"What was that?" Tatsuki said, looking out the window. Orihime shrugged. Tatsuki shook her head.
"Maybe it's time for you find a better neighborhood..." Tatsuki suggested. Orihime gasped.
"But I can't leave! This is me and Sora's apartment!" she said, "I don't think he'd like it if I just moved away!"
"Orihime..." she said, before a loud crashed was heard, and Orihime's body slammed into the ground.
"Do you even know where you're going!?" Rukia shouted. Ichigo ignored, kicking off another rooftop.
"Why are you in such a hurry!?" Ichigo dipped down onto a street and took Rukia off of his back.
"Eh...Why are we here?" she asked, "We're not close." Ichigo nodded, before taking off into a sprint. Rukia's eyes widened.
"Wait! Get back here!" Ichigo, again, ignored her and turned the corner.
"Finally..." he said, holding a small smirk.
"Orihime!" Tatsuki cried, before finding herself flying into a wall. Orihime opened, slightly, only to find Tatsuki unconscious against a wall, herself, sitting on another wall, with a chain protruding from her chest, connecting herself to a bloody body on the ground, and a monster, hovering over her.
"Now Orihime, it is time for you to return to me!" the beast shouted, and Orihime looked up.
"How...How do you know my name?" she asked. The monster narrowed its beady red eyes and growled.
"Of course, you would have forgotten about me..." it said, drawing back its large claws, "But we'll be together! We'll be together forever!" Orihime closed her eyes, in fear of what to come.
She expected it to be quick, but the pain she dreaded never came. Instead, the sound of metal ringing filled her ears, as she reluctantly opened her eyes, and saw Ichigo, standing over her, dressed in a pure black kimono.
"Kurosaki-kun," she said, quietly. Ichigo deflected the claws, then formed his stance.
"If you want to hurt Inoue, he said, "Then you are going to have to go through me!"
"Kurosaki-kun!" she said, much loudly this time, "Oh, I wonder if this is a dream...How did you get here? What's with the sword?" Ichigo looked back at her before his eyes widened.
"HEHEHEHEH!" the Hollow cackled, "Kurosaki! You pest! If you didn't exist, she would have never forgotten me!" Ichigo looked at Orihime, who was against the wall, and the bloody figure, beside the Hollow's tail, and figure that they were the same. Then he looked at the Hollow's face.
"S-Sora?" Orihime whimpered. The Hollow laughed again.
"So, you remembered!" the Hollow screamed, "Well it's too late!" He swiped his large hand at her, but Ichigo stabbed his sword through his wrist, and with mighty force, pulled the entire arm off. The Hollow roared in agony.
"You will not lay a single finger on Inoue," he said, gravely, before jumping into the air. The Hollow screamed, before firing a cero, which, despite being for Ichigo, was much more likely to harm Tatsuki.
"Tatsuki!" Ichigo shouted, before kicking off of the ceiling, and landing in front of Tatsuki, sword in a defensive position. Despite this, he could deflect the entire attack, and the apartment wall exploded.
"What just happened!?" a resident shouted, in awe, before finding himself a victim of Rukia's Memory Chikan.
"That should fix that," she said, when Ichigo landed beside her, holding Tatsuki.
"You bastard!" Rukia shouted, "You just left me! You know how long of a walk that was!?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes, and placed Tatsuki on the concrete, softly. He then, wordlessly, jumped back into the ruined apartment. Rukia sighed.
"Die!" the Hollow shouted, slashing at Inoue, when Ichigo interrupted his attack, and offered at his mask. He caught a bit of it, accepted it, and pulled out, revealing a chunk of his face. Orihime gasped, in horror.
"KUROSAKI!" the Hollow cried, "Just die!" He fired another Cero, this one clipping with Ichigo shouted, sending him plummeting to the ground.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shouted, running over to him. Ichigo snapped his head up, and shouted, "Don't!"
Too late, as Orihime nearly found herself crushed by the tail of the snakelike Hollow. She quickly turned, only to find herself taken in the grasp of the beast.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called out, feeling herself losing the ability to breathe.
"Why do you cry out for him?" the Hollow asked.
"LET HER GO!" Ichigo shouted, slashing him across the chest. The Hollow roared, and slapped Ichigo, with his tail, sending him into the door. The Hollow prepared another Cero when Ichigo snapped up and rushed in. Orihime shut her eyes when the Cero was fired, and another explosion filled the room.
When Orihime opened her eyes, and saw Ichigo, and his sword plunged into the Hollow's face. The mask shattered, and Inoue Sora, her dear brother, wide-eyed.
"Sora..." she said, softly, feeling the grasp lessen.
"Orihime...I'm sorry..." he said, "I...I just wanted to be remembered..." Orihime started to tear up.
"Brother...I never forgot about you..." she said, "I couldn't...I would never..."
"But you no longer prayed for me!" he shouted, "Everything revolved school or your friends...And when you met Kurosaki! You forgot about me! You chose Kurosaki over your brother!"
"I never replaced you...I thought you would be happy, hearing about how good I've been doing...I'm sorry brother..." Sora's eyes widened, as Orihime slipped out of his grasp, and into Ichigo's, who was waiting for her to fall.
"Kurosaki-kun..." she said, tired, "Made me happy...Like you did...He filled a gap in my heart...But never replaced you, brother...I love you..." Fully exhausted, she fell asleep in Ichigo's arms.
"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted, bursting through the broken door. Ichigo turned to her and motioned toward to bloody corpse.
"Oh..." she gasped, "Uh...I can fix this!"
"Can you!?" Sora gasped. Rukia nodded.
"Yep! Just might take a while..." she said, walking over to Ichigo, "As long as her Chain of Fate is connected to her body, she can be revived." Ichigo nodded, and gently placed her body on the floor.
"Kurosaki Ichigo..." Sora said, feeling weaker, "Can I ask you to do something? A last wish?" Ichigo nodded. Sora closed his eyes and balled his remaining fist.
"I...I entrust Orihime to you!" he said, "I took her from her parents because they were bad people...Unspeakable, their crimes were. I wanted to keep her safe...Protect her from every and any threat...Her hairpins, my last gift to her, my last measure of protection...You must keep her safe, Kurosaki! You must!" Ichigo looked down and smiled.
"You should be glad," he said, looking back into the eyes of the Hollow, "I already planned on protecting her from anything and everything. There is no need to worry." Sora smiled, as he started to fade away.
"Then, I am..."
Silence.
Walking back to his humble home, Ichigo stepped, as if nothing would move him. Rukia walked behind him, as silent as he was.
"If you were wondering, I didn't protect her, because I have a crush on her," Ichigo said, "Inoue...Inoue is a difficult story...
"I met her in the most unfortunate situation possible...Her brother was killed in a car accident. She was the one who carried his body into the clinic. Even though we tried everything, he died before the ambulance arrived.
"I begged my father to let me go to his funeral. I needed to be there...I knew I could do anything to ease her, but, I felt that as someone who went through a similar experience, I could help her. I did my best, but she pushed me away. She never wanted to see me again. All I did was remind her of that day...
"I eventually started the healing process... But even that was short lived. I did my best, like I always try.
"Even though I knew she was friends with Tatsuki, I was too afraid to see her again. I was afraid that she would hate me. I was afraid that she would reject me again.
"But in High School...When I saw her...I was swallowed in anger...She was happy. She was giggling to some joke or something...I couldn't believe it...How could she be happy? After the terrible events in her life...
"But my anger was misguided...I wasn't angry at her. I was angry at myself.
"I was bitter. I was depressed. I hated everything. I was angry. I needed someone to be angry at. But why Inoue?
"She was like me. We both lost a family member. We both were alone. Yet, she was happy, and I was not. What had I done wrong?
"I needed to keep her off my path. I needed to save her. I needed to protect. I can't let her fall like I had. I just can't..."
"Kurosaki..." Rukia said. Ichigo shook his head.
"Can we just walk?" he said, "I really don't feel like talking anymore..."
"Oh, what happened to your apartment, my sweet Hime-chan!" Honshō Chizuru shouted, hugging the auburn haired girl tightly. Orihime shrugged.
"I heard it was a gas explosion. That would probably explain my dream!" she said.
"And what was that about?" Tatsuki asked as she took a seat next to her.
"Oh...It was a little long...But you were in it!"
"Good morning, Inoue," Ichigo said, walking behind Tatsuki, "Was I in your dream?" Inoue blushed.
"Ah, good morning Kurosaki-kun!" she said, "Uh...I-I don't remember..." Ichigo smiled.
"Well, it would be a great honor to be in your dreams..." he said. Orihime's blush deepened.
"Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots