A/N: I don't own Bleach, or the brands Kotex or Playtex. I have nothing against the brand Playtex, as I've never used it, and it was just the second brand that popped into my head.


Day Four: Mood Swings

Ichigo groaned inwardly to himself, stepping into the pharmacy. He must've really loved Chouko to be doing this for her. He muttered incoherently to himself, beginning his search.

"Kurosaki-san, is that you?" Ichigo jumped slightly at the sound of the light voice and turned around.

"H-Hanataro!" Ichigo exclaimed, looking down at the small Shinigami. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," Hanataro smiled in response. "Unohana-taicho sent me here again for some odd reason…" A puzzled look appeared on his face.

"I… see…" Ichigo said, grabbing a random package of pads. He had to get out of here. His eyes darted around the pharmacy, trying to see if anyone else he knew was here.

Hanataro noticed the package Ichigo was holding behind his back and inquired, "Would you like me to get that for you, Kurosaki-san?"

"I-iie!" Ichigo shook his head. "That's fine! Thanks anyway, Hanataro!" He dashed off to the register, leaving the poor, confused seventh seat standing in the middle of the women's hygiene aisle.

He slapped the package of pads on the counter and fished out for his wallet. As he did so, he heard the faint voice of deep chuckling. He froze. He knew that stupid laugh.

Ichigo glanced up from the ground and came face-to-face with a stupid face he knew very well. "Ganju!" he exclaimed.

"Yo! Ichigo!" Ganju cried, not even bothering to hide his laughter. "You don't have some sort of weird fetish, do you?"

"Hell no!" Ichigo half-yelled. "It's for my fucking girlfriend! What the hell?"

Ganju raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, man," he said, "I was only joking." He began to scan the item as he muttered, "Though I think you might need it for some of that PMS-ing of yours too."

Ichigo growled, hearing the comment. He slammed down a five-hundred yen coin on the counter. "Keep the change," he muttered, taking the plastic bag.

He left the pharmacy, and trudged all the way back to Chouko's house. Damn, Keigo was right. He was whipped.

He let himself in, since he knew no one else was home but Chouko, but she was stuck in bed because she feared that if she moved, she'd leak and use up the rest of her last pad.

He shuddered thinking about it. How did girls bleed so much and not pass out or die? He passed out plenty of times in his fights because of blood loss.

He knocked on the door to Chouko's bedroom, and he faintly heard her soft voice go, "Come in, Ichi-chan!"

The orange-haired boy opened the door, handing over the plastic bag to Chouko. "Here." He looked away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes.

Chouko stared at the contents of the bag inside her quietly.

Ichigo, seeing as there was no sense of movement, turned to look at his girlfriend. "Is… something wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

His brown eyes widened as Chouko's eyes narrowed. "… Chouko…?" he asked hesitantly.

"These are the wrong ones!" Chouko exploded, furiously turning to her boyfriend. "I'm sitting in my bed because I can't move, so I decide to sent my boyfriend to get me pads, which I specifically asked for Kotex but instead you get me Playtex! I like Kotex more!"

Oh shit. He grabbed the wrong one. He swore that he saw the Kotex ones and grabbed them, but shit. Hanataro must've distracted him and he grabbed the ones next to his target.

"Warui," Ichigo said, slowly backing away. "I'll… go get the right ones?" he asked, but ducked just as a strawberry came hurling towards him.

It hit the wall with a splat. It might've been a strawberry, but he knew how strong Chouko was for being so little.

"Just get out of my room!" Chouko yelled, and Ichigo, using his common sense, left her room before something bigger would be hurled towards him.

Ichigo took a seat on the living room couch, not really sure what to do. Surely he couldn't just leave Chouko alone. Maybe he should call Chouko's mother to get the pads. It was already bag enough running into Ganju and Hanataro.

As Ichigo began to think about what he should do, he heard a faint voice go, "Ichi-chan…?"

He lolled his head backwards to see Chouko standing at the base of the stairs, looking at him warily. "… Yeah?" he asked cautiously. "Should I really go back and get the right ones?"

Chouko shook her head and went over to him. She bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's fine. This brand's fine. I'm sorry I got mad."

"It's okay," Ichigo replied sincerely, relaxing into Chouko's touch. 'Only three more days…' Ichigo thought quietly to himself.