Byakuya couldn't help but stare at Ichigo as he worked diligently on the English questions. The orange haired teen struggled with a few of them, but Byakuya was more than happy to lean in close and remedy his mistakes.

Ichigo had the adorable habit of chewing his lip when he was thinking. More than once he blew his hair out of his face in frustration, letting Byakuya catch a glimpse of his overly concentrated features.

Byakuya couldn't help but think about how cute he was. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Ichigo ask for his opinion on one of the more difficult questions. He snapped to attention quickly, and after a few minutes of discussion Ichigo thanked him with a shy smile and carefully wrote down the answer.

Byakuya had to turn away so Ichigo would not catch the expression of want that had somehow managed to paint itself on his usually poised and stoic features. He could feel the light blush that had tainted his cheeks and took deep breaths in the hope that it would rid him of the flushed feeling. Damn Ichigo for smiling at him like that.

In his mind he was acting like a love struck fool, and he was not one bit happy about that. But no matter what he tried to convince himself, the stubborn feelsy part of his brain would not let up on the fact that he had it bad for the boy working away next to him.

Byakuya was torn from his fruitless attempt at arguing with himself by a light tapping on his arm. He turned to Ichigo, and before his exam partner could say anything, he plucked the pen from his fingers without as much as a word. Ichigo looked at him with an expression of slight surprise and unhidden annoyance as Byakuya began to quickly fill in the remaining blank spaces with his impossibly neat calligraphy.

Gone was the look of content concentration that Ichigo had been unknowingly wearing through the exam. In its place was a scowl that could turn milk sour, and it was directed at that pompous asshole Byakuya Kuchiki.

Ichigo grabbed his partner's wrist and stole back his pen. He took the paper and turned away from his crush, thinking to complete the test with it resting on his lap.

Now, Byakuya was never one to act on impulse. He was quite the opposite in fact; all of his actions were usually thought through and carefully calculated.

The knowledge of what he usually did did nothing to influence the way he lifted Ichigo onto his lap and pushed the exam paper back onto the desk as Miss Rangiku Matsumoto looked on with an amused expression.

Unaware of his teacher's gaze, Byakuya then took Ichigo's hand in his own and removed the pen from his grasp. He rested his chin on Ichigo's head and proceeded to complete the test before reading it over quickly and turning it over.

Ichigo was panicking silently in the lap of his crush. His face was red with embarrassment and he was sure he could hear the other students whispering about his current predicament.

He was convinced that Byakuya knew how he felt about him and was toying with him, teasing someone who didn't have a chance.

Anger bubbled up in his chest. He felt his eyes begin to water, but he pushed the tears back. He hadn't cried in years and he was not about to start now. His fist clenched unconsciously and he had the sudden urge to make sure that Byakuya left the exam room with a few less of his perfect teeth.

But he couldn't hurt him.

No matter how angry he was, Ichigo couldn't ever bring himself to hit Byakuya.

He was drawn out of his despair by a pair of strong arms winding around his waist.

Ichigo closed his eyes tight. This really was getting too much for him. If Byakuya didn't let up on him soon, he was sure he would burst into tears. He didn't trust himself to speak, or even look at his persecutor for that matter.

He started to tremble and Byakuya noticed almost immediately.

The black haired man snapped out of whatever stupor had possessed him to hold the other teen in such and intimate way and carefully lifted him off his lap and into the adjacent chair.

"Sorry."

Ichigo's red face snapped up at the apology, and he looked questioningly at Byakuya. He still didn't trust himself to speak.

Byakuya repeated his short apology and turned away to busy himself with checking over their test.

At this stage, Ichigo was feeling incredibly hard done by. He was sure that Byakuya's apology was sincere, but... why did he cradle him like that in the first place? At the beginning of the exam he wasn't even willing to let Ichigo help him on the test. What did it mean? Was... did Byakuya like him?

When the bell rang signalling the end of the exam Ichigo high tailed it out of there. He didn't even make sure the test was handed in. The need to get out of the stuffy room was so great he almost tripped himself up on the way to the door.

As he handed in the test, Miss Matsumoto stopped Byakuya and told him to wait.

Byakuya sighed but did as he was told; he had a free period next anyway while a materials technology exam was taking place.

Rangiku was a friend of his family. She had had an annoying presence in his life since before he could remember and she had the uncanny habit of butting into his affairs and giving him unneeded and useless advice.

When the last student had left the room, Rangiku closed the door and hurried back to where Byakuya was standing.

"So, the Kurosaki kid, huh?" she inquired with a smirk.

"I do not see how this is any concern of yours," Byakuya replied coolly.

"Oh don't be like that! Come on Bya-kun, please tell me," Rangiku pleaded with a false pout. Byakuya shuddered at the use of his nick name. He hated it with a passion. Hearing it made him feel physically sick.

"If I tell you will you promise to never refer to me as 'Bya-kun' again," he asked dryly. It pained him to do so, but he had managed to spit the cutesy name out.

"Pinkie promise!" came the enthusiastic response. Byakuya was pretty sure that his teacher was drunk. Again. Hopefully, that would mean she wouldn't remember the conversation they were about to have.

He sighed and resigned himself to his fate. Rangiku was bouncing on her heels as Byakuya 'described' what was going on with Ichigo.

He felt like he would have to wash his ears out with bleach after Rangiku lectured him on the importance of using lube and ... you do not even want to know.

Rangiku's into some seriously kinky shit.

A/N gaaaaaahhhh I am dying. I am plagued by some stubborn disease, I have had it for a week at this stage and it shows no sign of letting up. Yay.

And I still have to go to school, I've already missed way too many days. I missed a big chunk of school to attend a funeral oversees and I get sick easily and often so... yeah. I'm feeling well and truly sorry for myself. To top it off I haven't been able to go to my youth group for two weeks straight because my brother has had dentist appointments. I miss it, it's the only place I feel comfortable being around a large group of people.

Well, end vent.

I apologise for any errors, grammatical or otherwise. I had trouble writing for Rangiku, she's not a character I ever read too much into but I have recently found a love for her and so she will feature in this fic (and maybe others) in the future.

I do not own Bleach. Unfortunately.

Thank you for reading this fic and the rather large authors note. I really do appreciate all the support.

Thank you Erudite Elephant for the lovely review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :3

*Insert customary plea for you to review*