Hinamori places a bowl of salad on her tray and a glass of water. Izuru comes hurrying into the cafeteria, stuffing papers into his bag.
'Where were you?' Toshiro asks.
'Huh?! Oh, Shunsui-san wouldn't let us go until we finished the balcony scene of 'Romeo and Juliet'.' He rolls his eyes and puts his hand on his chest dramatically. ''But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the sun!' His eyes then trail to Momo's tray.
'What are you at? On some kind of diet or what?' he teases and she glares at him.
'I just realized I had gained a few extra pounds over the summer and I want to drop a dress size,' she sniffs and turns her nose up as she turns her back on Izuru.
'Hey, c'mon, Hinamori! I was only kidding! You don't even look fat from any angle!'Izuru says hastily and grabs his tray loaded with food to follow her.
'Really?' she says and brightens as she looks longingly at a plate of French fries.
'Yea! Except for the time you broke a chair in gym when you sat on it, I don't think you're fat at all!' Izuru says confidently and gets bashed in the head by Hinamori.
'Thanks a lot, Izuru!' she snaps as Izuru rubs a huge bruise forming on his head.
'Will you guys quit it? You're fighting over an utterly ridiculous topic,' Toshiro says in a tired voice as he joins them with his tray. 'Momo, you're not fat. Rukia is just saying that to piss you off. You don't have to listen to her.'
'I know, Shiro-chan, but what if I am fat!? I mean, I couldn't fit into my fencing uniform yesterday!' she wails in despair. She happens to be very sensitive about her weight.
'That's only because you've grown a couple of inches, Momo!'
'How can you tell?! You're still as short as ever to me, Shiro-chan! Oops!'
'Momo!'
'Sorry, sorry!'
'If you guys are done, you'll see that someone has stolen our table!' Izuru says bitterly and indicates to their table where a group of giggling 10th graders is sitting gossiping away.
'Kwaaaa!' Momo cries out. 'Now where are we going to sit?'
Toshiro scans the packed cafeteria and suddenly spots Ichigo waving a hand to him. He quickly looks away as if pretending he didn't see him but Momo spots Ichigo. She squeals and sways in place.
'Prince Ichigo is calling us to sit with him!' she squeaks and rushes forward.
'Maybe we shouldn't,' Toshiro says grudgingly but he follows Momo anyways.
'Aw come on, Shiro-chan!' she says excitedly. 'It's Prince Ichigo! Imagine Rukia going green with envy!' She laughs out loud and winks at a stunned Rukia as she takes a seat next to Chad opposite Ichigo. Rukia certainly goes green with a tinge of red. She constantly glanced at their table while trying to concentrate on what Orihime was saying. Hinamori giggles evilly. Toshiro just glares at her as he approaches the table. He makes to sit next to Izuru but Ichigo scoots over and he's pulled next to him by Renji. Looks like he has no choice but to sit next to the 'Prince'.
'So, Toshiro, what's your favorite pastime?' Ichigo inquires and gives him his full attention as Toshiro raises his burger to take a bite.
'Wuff'in 'oo 'ike to 'ow,' Toshiro says with his mouth full. He swallows and turns to Ichigo, about to answer properly, when he feels something riding up his leg. He jumps and bangs his knee on the table. As he rubs his sore knee, he feels the same thing ride up his leg again. He looks down and sees Ichigo's foot rubbing his leg. His eyes widen and he moves his legs away.
'So what were you saying, Toshiro?' Ichigo purrs. Toshiro looks at his only two friends on the table but Momo is busy chatting with Chad (well Chad is just listening while she jabbered away) and Izuru is sitting uncomfortably between Uryuu and Kaien, who are both giving him shifty looks. Nobody just noticed Ichigo make a move on poor Toshiro.
'I said,' Toshiro stammers, trying to regain himself. 'Wouldn't you like to know?'
'Oh I would, Toshiro, I would,' Ichigo flirts. Toshiro takes a deep breath and glances at Momo from the corner of his eye. He'll have to bear with this just for her. No matter how much he hated Ichigo. He expected Ichigo to sort of hold a grudge against him too since Toshiro was never nice to him. But Ichigo seemed oblivious to the fact that Toshiro detests him.
'What's wrong with you, Kurasaki? You're acting bizarre,' Toshiro states, pretending not to be bothered and returns to munching on his burger. He suddenly feels a hand on his thigh and he almost chokes on his burger. He looks at Ichigo in disbelief. No way. The Prince of Karakura High School couldn't be…
Ichigo winks at him as if he knows what Toshiro is thinking about. He leans forward so his lips are barely inches from Toshiro's ear. He breathes on it, sending shivers up the boy's spine.
'Maybe there is, little Toshiro,' he whispers seductively. 'And you're the only one who can cure it…'
Toshiro immediately springs up from the table, causing the entire group to look up at him in surprise. Ichigo just wears a bored expression and leans his cheek against his hand as he looks up at Toshiro's fuming face.
'Kurasaki, I am warning you,' Toshiro says lowly so only Ichigo can hear him, his body shaking with anger and his eyes refuses to focus on that arrogant face. He spots a familiar head of black hair and when the person turns around, his heart literally stops. He quickly sits back, daring not to look at Ichigo or at anyone else.
'Please don't see me, please don't see me,' he thinks pleadingly, eyes squeezed shut.
'Hey, Toshiro?'
He flinches as his heart does a back flip. He looks up after a second to stare into a face of Karin. Her eyes are looking into his teal ones as if searching for something. Her black mane framed her face which shows concern. His hands ball into fists as if he is trying to control something inside him.
'I gotta split, Ichigo,' Toshiro says, ignoring Karin. 'Thanks for the invite.'
With that, he walks away quickly, leaving Karin very confused and very hurt. She notices the entire table is staring at her except Momo and Izuru.
'What are you lot looking at?! Haven't you seen a girl before?!' she snaps and stomps away. Ichigo gives her a curious look.
'Who's that?' he asks Momo and Izuru.
'Nobody,' Izuru says a little too quickly and gives Momo a look that she should stay quiet too. Ichigo smirks and turns to Momo completely. She's looking down at her bowl of salad, furiously jabbing at the lettuce leaves. He gently takes her hand in his, lifts her chin so she looked at him and he flashed his heart-melting smile that made girls swoon.
'Come, Hinamori, won't you tell me?' he says innocently. Hinamori whimpers. Izuru groans. Ichigo has her hook, line and sinker.
'Her name's Karin,' Hinamori starts jabbering away at high speed. 'She and Toshiro used to go out last year but they broke up during the summer. She broke his heart and because of that Toshiro doesn't want to go out with any girl ever again.'
'What did she do?' Ichigo asks curiously. Momo hesitates. She looks at Izuru who shakes his head sadly.
'I-I'm sorry, Prince Ichigo,' she manages to say. 'But, that's Toshiro's secret. And only he can tell you what exactly happened between them…'
'That's alright, Hinamori,' Ichigo says lightly and releases her hand. She looks at him in a daze and then at her hand. She squeals and awes at the hand that he had just touched. Behind her, Rukia has fainted and her nose is bleeding as Orihime fans her with her hands.
'Poor Toshiro no wonder he repels my advances,' Ichigo thinks sympathetically. 'Well, I'll make him come around yet. He can't stay single forever.'
Toshiro leans his head on his locker and sighs, willing tears to stop forming in his eyes. He was just fine before she came along. Why did she have to show her face to him after what she did to him? He's working on getting over her and just when he thinks he's finally cured, she shows up. Of course he was bound to see her face once he got back to school but he didn't expect her to have the guts to come up and talk to him. Not after what she did. Not after she had hurt him so bad he had even tried to drink rat poison. Thank God Izuru had shown up and stopped him. Thanks to Izuru, he could heal himself to face her again once school started again. But after seeing her face again, the pain he has been trying to suppress couldn't help fighting to come to the surface.
He breathes deeply. He's going to be alright. She's just a bitch who broke his heart and doesn't deserve him even wasting his time thinking about her. He'll just collect his homework and leave school early. He doesn't have any more classes so he doesn't have to hang around here anymore. As he opens his locker, he cries out in alarm and steps back to avoid being buried in an avalanche of red roses. He stares in disbelief at the gorgeous flowers catch the light of the sun and twinkle with the dew hung on their petals. He loves roses. But who the heck knew that? He notices a blue card perched on his books. He picks it up, reads it and groans.
You're as sweet as these roses, Toshiro. Please accept them.
From your secret admirer,
The Prince.
'What…a…git,' he murmurs but can't help smile as he picks up a rose and smells it. He sweeps an eye over his locker and notices the scrunched up paper with the poem lying there in the corner.
'What if it's Ichiog who's been sending me poem all this time?' he thinks suspiciously as he unfolds the paper and gasps. There's his message. But under that is a new poem. A shorter one this time.
Can I help it,
If I feel this way?
Can I help it,
You don't noticed me?
Can I help it,
That it hurts?
Can I help it,
That I still want you?
Toshiro takes a sharp intake of breath before sliding down to the floor next to the pile of roses. He then realizes that his heart is beating rapidly, like when he's near Gin. Could this really be Ichigo? Toshiro wasn't aware of the face that he could write beautiful poetry like this. Well, that mystery will have to wait to be solved. Right now, Toshiro just wanted to revel in the thrill of having a secret admirer who wrote exquisite poetry that touched him deeply.
OH yeah! people! here, Karin is NOT, i repeat, NOT Ichigo's sister!! alright, please enjoy the rest of the story!^^