Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I only make its characters do funny things.

Author's note: Sorryyyyyyy! I know I was lazy, and uncreative, and haven't paid attention to this one for way too long. However, now here's chapter three and I hope you guys still like the idea. And the pairings. Well, I can't cater to all wishes, so you can read about the pairings (and future pairings) in my profile. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Annoying!

School was finally over, and Hitsugaya Tōshirō sighed, stretching his arms. He caught an amused glance by Hinamori, with whom he attended the Second Year Class of Junior High. It was a private school, and although the both of them, along with every school-attending member of the Bleach cast, would rather go without the extra treatment, going to a public school was impossible for them.

"Let's go," Momo smiled at her friend, and they made their way out of the classroom quickly, before anyone could notice. Running in the corridors was strictly forbidden, but who cared. They, at least, did not as they ran towards the lavatories as fast as they could. Of course they had to separate there, but by now they were already pretty good at it.

Tugging a brown long-haired wig out of her bag, Momo pulled it over her head, stuffing her real hair underneath it. Now some pretty earrings and a hairpin, and nobody would be able to recognise her. Looking triumphantly at her reflection, she playfully stuck her tongue out before leaving the room.

Tōshirō was already waiting outside. His 'costume' looked similar, only he wore a black-haired wig with short, spiky hair and dark-brown contacts. His eyes were just too noticeable, so he had to conceal them.

The both of them met up with Karin, Yuzu and Hanatorō, who were one class below them, in front of the school's entrance. The sun was momentarily hidden behind some clouds, but it looked pretty harmless for now.

"Karin! Give that back!" Momo and Tōshirō sweatdropped at the sight of red-haired Hanatorō running after a blond and pigtailed Karin who was waving a cap through the air, laughing her head off. Yuzu, orange-haired and freckled, was looking after them with a worried face.

"Hanatorō-kun, just don't let yourself be teased so much," Momo said while Tōshirō had already leaped at the (usually) black-haired one of the Kurosaki sisters and snatched the cap away from her hands, throwing it to Hanatorō. This, of course, ended up in one more quarrel, at which Momo only sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, they'll catch up eventually," she told the other two, having them tag along.

Today was a special day, since they wouldn't, like so often, climb into an important-looking car, stared at by others, and be driven to Bleach Manor, but make a trip to the city. They would eat at a ramen shop (or whatever there was) like normal people, go shopping like normal people, and have fun like normal people – perhaps even go to a cinema, something Momo hadn't done since she was six years old, and the matter didn't look very different concerning the other four.

They had prepared everything. With these costumes, they wouldn't catch any attention.

"I've found a pretty decent ramen shop in the vicinity," Karin said. "Friend of mine told me about it. Said he'd die for that stuff."

"Sounds good, what about you?" Momo asked the other three, who nodded in agreement.

They found the shop next to a really colourful news stand. "Jeez, lookit that," Tōshirō muttered and stared at an especially colourful magazine. There, next to a famous teen idol dressed all white, was a striking headline. "Hitsugaya Tōshirō and Kurosaki Karin – New Stars in Love Heaven?"

"Pfff," Karin snorted. "Who'd like that gremlin to be their boyfriend?"

"What'd you say! As if anyone were after a tomboy like you!" Tōshirō exclaimed angrily.

Momo, once again, felt like a day nurse. Bickering babies as they were, she had to interfere anytime they got into a fight – which was quite often. And it made her angrier from time to time. No wonder all the people took them for quarrelling lovers. Especially after those episodes in the anime, with Tōshirō helping Karin out with her football team, their fandom had exploded. Where before nobody had even cared (and how should they have, they hadn't even seen each other), now everybody was all "Ohhh they're quarrelling again, when really they want to be lovey-dovey and they just can't express it".

Momo huffed silently and tore her eyes away from the photoshop-ed pictures of her two friends smiling lovingly at each other. "Are you finished? I'd like to eat someday today," she snapped at her flesh-and-blood friends tearing at each other's hair, who stopped instantly. When she was in that mood, Momo's word was the law. And she had been in that mood quite often recently.

In the shop, with a steaming bowl of ramen in front of each, the atmosphere finally relaxed. At least until Karin started flipping noodles around, hitting Tōshirō on the cheek, which started a fierce noodle battle that ended with all of them getting booted out of the shop.

"You jerks! Where the heck did you learn your table manners!" Momo screamed, infuriated. She could take no more of this. She'd go home now. "You're like little children! Not a moment in which you can be unobserved and stay normal!"

Even Yuzu and Hanatorō were wearing a frown, nodding at Momo's ranting.

"We're sorry," Karin and Tōshirō said in unison, bowing their heads.

"Won't get us nowhere now! I'm hungry! And I wanted to go to the cinema! I wanted to have fun today! But no, you have to destroy everything!" She didn't even notice her tears until they were streaming down her cheeks, under the shocked gazes of her friends. She turned on her heel and stormed off in some direction, she didn't even care in which, angrily wiping her eyes as she went.

Maybe she was overreacting right now, but that just made everything worse. She just wanted to have a normal day, but those idiots always had to ruin everything with their stupid fighting! And even worse, every time they started anew, photoshop-ed pictures of their supposed lovey-dovey relationship came to her mind, and she hated it. Hated it so much she wanted to grab every single magazine and tear it into tiny little pieces.

She knew that it was unreasonable. There was nothing and perhaps would never be, but now she understood what Renji had told her in a private (and, admittedly, a bit drunk, on his side) moment. She knew how much he feared the newspaper headlines to become true, despite knowing that they weren't. He had told her about how he supposed Rukia and Ichigo to someday simply have no other choice than to become an item. She hadn't understood it then, but now she did. And it was painful.

"W-what did we do?" Karin stammered.

Yuzu sighed. "Oh my ..."

"Did she just ... cry?" Hanatorō asked incredulously, staring after Momo. "For real now?"

Tōshirō blinked. He knew that despite knowing her for so long, he didn't even understand half of what his friend did, but this ... this was bursting through the top of his personal 'things-I-don't-get-with-Momo' scale.

"Someone should go after her," Yuzu suggested. She sounded worried. "God knows where she'll end up in that state ..."

"Yeah, you go," her sister demanded. "Apparently, you didn't just ruin her day." But despite the gruff tone Karin chose, they all knew she was just as worried as they all were at the moment. It was obvious from the way she took up her hands to rub her arms, as if to get them warm – in the blazing sun.

"Okay, I can do that ... if only I knew where she's gone to ..."

"I'll go," Tōshirō announced, and was already jogging in the direction Momo had gone off to. "Meet you at the cinema!"

He didn't hear their replies, but assumed that they do what he proposed.

It was only natural that he should be the one to go. Momo was his dearest friend, and besides, he was a boy. He would have worried even more, sending Yuzu after her. Who knew, all kinds of people could be lurking in the corners.

The thought let him grind his teeth. Of course, they weren't in the worst part of the city, but – who knew.

His worrying, however, proved useless when he found Momo sitting on a metal fencing around a parking lot only a few streets away. She was holding her head down, hands propped at the metal rod she was sitting on, and was apparently not crying anymore, which was good.

She didn't see him at first, with her brown fake hair concealing most of her face, so he had plenty of time to prepare what he wanted to say. Which was not much, though. He wasn't that good with words, and especially with her, although being her oldest friend, he was searching for words most of the time. He didn't know why that was, but he had gotten used to it. How his brain seemed strangely empty under her inquiring gaze, how the words just disappeared when he felt her look at him. It wasn't that he was afraid of her, God no, since she was usually a real sweetheart (when she wasn't getting angry, which was all the more scary). He wasn't able to figure it out himself.

"Hey," he finally called out, and she looked up. Her cheeks weren't tear-streaked anymore, and she had obviously wiped her eyes, but they were still red and puffy. It pained him to see her that way.

"Hey," she replied, averting her eyes again. As it seemed, she was embarrassed about her outburst earlier.

Since she said nothing else, he resumed to sitting down on the fencing next to her, and for a few minutes, they just sat there in silence.

Finally, Momo sighed. "I'm so sorry."

Tōshirō gave her a surprised glance. "What for?"

"For being stupid."

He frowned at the cracks in the asphalt in front of him. "Sometimes I really don't get you, you know."

A sidewards glance told him that she was smiling. "I guess I was overreacting."

Now Tōshirō turned to her fully. "That might be, but even so, we were being complete dumbasses. I don't know why we're always doing that. Karin just has that way of provoking me to no end. I sincerely apologise for making you feel sad."

She was staring ahead, as if something he had said was troubling her. "It's okay."

"It's not. I mean, we're always doing stupid things, but ..." He shrugged. "Guess we overdid it this time."

Momo now snorted. "Hell right you did. You know, sometimes I feel like a mother taking care of two toddlers."

He grinned. "I'd say you were talking bull, but you're probably right."

"Hey, that's the first time you're admitting it. I guess I should cry more often," she giggled, brushing a stray strand of brown hair from her forehead.

"Please not," Tōshirō said, and he couldn't feel any more sincere when he told her, "when I see you cry, it makes me feel terrible."

Her gentle eyes looked astounded. That's what he liked most about her, her eyes. Like a deer's, some people said, but he liked to compare them to bittersweet chocolate. "Then I'm sorry for making you feel terrible," she said silently. She was still looking at him, and he suddenly felt all warm again.

"Well, I'd feel better if we went to meet up with the others at the cinema, and have a great time for the rest of the day," he said and couldn't suppress a smile.

"Alright." Momo smiled and stood up. "Let's have the best day ever!"

Sitting in his room, Yumichika heaved a sigh. It was midday already, and still no sign of Ikkaku getting up. Since he had left the party so abruptly yesterday, they hadn't had a chance to talk yet.

And he didn't even know what to say. He didn't feel like apologising for what he'd done. And anyway, had his friend even noticed him leaving? He doubted it, and it gave his heart a sting like someone had needled it.

He knew exactly what it meant. He was way over the stage where he'd tried to convince himself that he was just being jealous for attention, as a friend. That with all his escapades, Ikkaku often failed to spend time with him, being his friend.

He knew better now. He had never felt that way, and all that time, he had just talked himself into believing it. But it hadn't worked, not when the truth was there all the while, seizable if he only stretched out his hand.

Sometimes things just grow too big to go unnoticed, even when you're closing your eyes and try not to see it.

When he had finally come to realise for himself the fact that he had a thing for his best buddy, he had said to himself that he would be able to turn it off, like one flipped a switch and turned off the light. That it would become better with time. Because, let's face it, he could neither tell him his feelings nor hope for them to be returned anyway. Ikkaku was a ladies' man, had always been, and as straight as could be.

Strangely, though, Yumichika had never noticed himself being attracted to other guys except him. He didn't think that way about Shūhei, or Jūshirō, or Renji, or any other good-looking guy here.

As time went by, he had noticed that the feeling, instead of just disappearing as he was constantly willing it away, was in fact increasing until he felt so full that he could have choked on it. Or shouted it out. Or puked it out.

By now, he was at a loss. He simply knew no way out, and he didn't know how long he would be able to live with it, to see that guy every day and talk with him and act with him and see him pick up women, and act as if he couldn't care less.

Sometimes he just wished Kubo-san would let him die, so that he could leave here and lead a life of his own, far away from the only person that had ever gotten under his skin. Perhaps then, in a tragic you're-my-best-friend-don't-die scene, he would be able to feel the closeness he was longing for, even if faked, and just for a moment, rejoice in it. He chuckled as he thought of how many times he'd mess it up, just to hear Ikkaku repeat some nice things, and maybe even hold him in his arms.

This, indeed, would be his farewell.