A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been awhile, but I definitely intend to finish this story. Even if it takes awhile, it will be finished! Hopefully I can get it done this summer since I finally don't have to deal with school. One year of college down, two or three more to go! Thank you to all the readers, reviewers, and people who favorited/alerted.

I.

'I don't miss her. I don't need her. She obviously doesn't need me so I don't need her either. I'm fine. I don't even care about her. And she obviously never cared about me to begin with. The pageant is only four days away and after that I'll never have to see her again.'

While Ichigo was stuck in his own thoughts, Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin traded worried looks across the kitchen table as they watched Ichigo viciously cut his fish into many tiny pieces. The only sound in the Kurosaki family dining room was Ichigo's knife clanking loudly against his plate every time he cut through another piece of fish. The clanking stopped momentarily when Ichigo's fish was cut up beyond recognition, but before the family could enjoy the silence Ichigo quickly switched to smashing his rice with swift stabbing motions.

"Ichi-nii, is something wrong?" Yuzu finally mustered up the courage to ask.

Ichigo was so startled out of his reverie by Yuzu's question that he dropped his chopsticks. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and calmly picked up his chopsticks before responding. "Everything's fine."

Karin leaned back in her seat while gazing at Ichigo skeptically. "Really? Nothing is wrong? I couldn't help but notice that you've been moodier than ever for the last three days."

"I'm fine. Can you drop it?" Ichigo replied icily.

"Where is Hime-chan? She was over here all the time and now I never see her. Did you guys break up?" Isshin finally cut to the chase.

Ichigo went back to smashing his rice, refusing eye contact with everyone in the room. "We didn't break up. You have to be together in order to break up." His tone obviously indicated that the conversation was over, but his family chose to ignore that.

"What did you do to poor sweet Orihime-chan? I knew you would mess it up somehow. She was supposed to be my daughter-in-law but you ruined it!" Isshin complained. He soon started sobbing uncontrollably onto Yuzu's shoulder.

Isshin quickly removed his head from Yuzu's shoulder and snapped it toward Ichigo when his irate son slammed his hands down on the table, shaking everyone's dinner.

"Shut up old man! Just mind your own damn business! It's no big deal. She was just a girl I sort of liked and we hung out for a week and then it fizzled out. Alright? Seriously, I don't want to talk about it so just drop it." Ichigo stormed out of the room and left his family to digest what he had said.

II.

"Well, this is awkward." Keigo finally broke the silence between the three teenage boys sitting in tense uncomfortable silence in the back of the auditorium. Ichigo ignored his comment and continued to stare intently at Orihime up on the stage as she neared the end of her baton routine.

"Why don't you just suck it up and apologize for whatever you did? These past three days since you guys stopped talking you have been even moodier and angrier than usual and you're really starting to cramp my style." Keigo continued.

Orihime threw her sparkling baton high in the air for the final throw and performed a back handspring into a back tuck before triumphantly catching the baton and sinking into the splits. Several contestants and their family in the audience broke into applause, but Orihime's mother just continued to read her magazine. Orihime stood and took a bow while flashing a big smile to the audience. Her smile faltered when her grey eyes met Ichigo's for a split second. Her heart skipped a beat before he quickly broke the eye contact and turned toward Keigo. "I have nothing to apologize for. Shut your mouth when you have no idea what you're talking about. It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid rather than to open your mouth and let them know for sure." Ichigo retorted.

Just as Keigo was about to retort, Mayuri walked onto the stage. "Alright. After Inoue is Chizuru. Hurry up Chizuru! If this was the real pageant they would deduct points for tardiness."

Orihime slipped off the stage quietly and headed backstage to change into her beauty dress. She had lost the normal bounce in her step and it seemed as if every step toward the dressing room was a chore. If possible, she had been even more affected by the break-up than Ichigo. Her sad lonely life was finally starting to turn around and then just as suddenly as Ichigo had come into her life he was gone. The beauty queen sighed sadly as she stood in front of her beauty dress.

She carefully removed the pale blue gown from the hanger and draped it over her body as she stared at herself in the mirror. The dress was strapless and modest, only exposing a tasteful amount of cleavage. The dress's bodice was encrusted with rhinestones that sparkled in the fluorescent light. The bottom of the dress was loose and flowed well when she walked. She quickly took off her baton outfit and changed into the dress. Orihime was really glad the pageant was almost over. She didn't know how much longer she could be around Ichigo when they weren't even on speaking terms. The awkward tension was really starting to get to her.

"Orihime! Can you help me with my dress?" Michiru pleaded as she struggled to zip up her pale yellow dress. Orihime had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had failed to notice the rest of the contestants had come backstage and were also changing into their beauty gowns. While Orihime helped Michiru with the zipper, she noticed Loly struggling with her dress to their right.

Instinctively, Orihime walked over to Loly to try to help. As soon as she touched the zipper, Loly spun around and shoved her. "Don't touch me!" Loly screamed as she glared daggers at Orihime.

"I was just trying to help." The beauty queen replied meekly.

"I don't need your help! You know, I'm really sick of you looking down on everyone. You think you're some kind of God or something, don't ya?"

"What are you talking about? I was just trying to help you with your zipper!"

"You think everyone hasn't noticed? You walk around here like you're better than everyone. Just because you've won some low budget pageants doesn't make you the next Miss Japan."

Orihime gaped stupidly as Loly verbally assaulted her.

Loly smirked maliciously. "Nothing to say?" Loly walked closer to the red head until she was standing directly beside her. "Don't kid yourself. After Aizen-Sama gets what he wants from you he won't give you a second glance. You may be pretty, but you're lacking in the personality department. You definitely won't hold his attention for long. Don't cross me, princess. You'll live to regret it."

Orihime could only watch in shocked silence as Loly walked away to join Menoly on the other side of the dressing room.

III.

"Hiiiiiimmmmmeeee!" Chizuru leapt out of seemingly nowhere and enveloped Orihime in a bear hug. Huge crocodile tears began to roll down Chizuru's cheeks, causing her mascara to run and leave huge black trails down her face. "I'm going to miss you so much! Why is it so hard to say goodbye?"

"Chizuru-chan, I'm going to see you tomorrow at the pageant." Orihime replied.

"But every night away from my soul mate tears my heart to pieces!" Chizuru sobbed. She released Orihime momentarily in order to loudly blow her nose and dab at her eyes with a tissue. "And what will happen after the pageant Hime? What will I do when I can't see your beautiful smiling face every day?"

Orihime rubbed Chizuru's back comfortingly. "I'm sure I'll see you at another pageant." Orihime reassured.

Chizuru's sniffles slowed down. "I wish you had a cell-phone, or access to a computer or something. It is so hard to get in touch with you." Chizuru replied.

Orihime gave her friend one last squeeze before maneuvering her way out of the hug. "Don't worry. We'll find some way to stay in touch. I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow!"

While she had been consoling Chizuru, the majority of the contestants had disappeared leaving the auditorium eerily silent. Orihime's sneakers squeaked loudly as she walked through the abandoned hallways. With the silence all around her, Orihime had nothing to distract her from the thoughts of Ichigo that constantly plagued her mind. The beauty queen's eyes automatically started to tear up and she worriedly bit her lip as she contemplated the very real possibility that she would never see Ichigo again after the pageant was over tomorrow. They still weren't on speaking terms, although she had tried to talk to him on numerous occasions over the last few days. Each time, he had left before she could get past 'Ichigo-kun.'

'Maybe I should just give up. Where could this relationship possibly go anyway? If I win, I'll be so busy preparing for the Miss Japan contest that I'll never have time to see him anyway. And if I lose, my mom will blame it on Ichigo distracting me and she will watch me more closely than ever to make sure I never see him again. It would probably be better for him if he just moved on. But…I don't know if I can just let him go. Am I being selfish?'

Before she could dwell too much in her thoughts, she was startled by the sound of glass smashing and a thud. Orihime picked up her pace until she rounded a corner and found the source of the disturbance. Orihime stealthy walked toward Aizen's office where she could hear two voices engaged in a heated conversation. The door was slightly ajar so Orihime plastered herself against the wall where she couldn't be seen but she could still hear.

"Who do you think you are to give me an ultimatum? You clearly do not know who you are dealing with." Aizen angrily hissed. Curious, Orihime boldly repositioned herself where she could sneak a peak into the room. What she saw was shocking.

Aizen had slammed Loly against a floor length mirror, explaining the sound of breaking glass, and had a rough grip on her arms as he continued to hold her against the mirror. Loly truly looked as if she feared for her life, but underneath her fear Loly almost seemed to be turned on by Aizen's psychotic behavior.

Aizen sighed before releasing one of Loly's arms. He placed a hand on her cheek and then slowly leaned in to engage her in a lingering kiss. Orihime had to clasp her hand over her mouth to stifle her shocked gasp. After a few moments, Loly started to return the kiss but Aizen pulled away. "Loly, darling. You know our relationship has always been very consensual. How do you think your parents would feel? What will daddy think about his little girl when he finds out what you've been up to? Besides, it would be your word versus mine. Who will they believe? Disgruntled pageant contestant or respected entrepreneur? I know you're not going to say anything because you're completely in love with me. You don't want me to go to jail, now do you?" Aizen asked.

Loly's eyes began to brim with tears. "Why can't you love me? Why am I not good enough for you?"

Aizen smiled charmingly. "Don't feel bad Loly. No one is good enough for me.

Suddenly, Loly became angry. "I swear to God if that red-headed whore wins this pageant I will tell the authorities about our relationship. And you'll go to jail pedophile." Loly threatened.

Aizen smirked. "You don't scare me Loly. Do you honestly think you're the first? Did you think you were special? I can't help that I like them young. You weren't the first and you won't be the last. If I haven't been punished yet what makes you think anything is going to change now? I know exactly what I'm doing and I don't intend to ever serve any jail time. You need to learn to move on. I've moved on to bigger and better things and I'm no longer interested in you. I know you hoped you could re-spark our romance by competing in this pageant, but you have obviously failed."

"It's that bitch Inoue isn't it? It's because of her that you're done with me." Loly accused.

Aizen released Loly and walked over to his desk. He placed both hands in his pockets and nonchalantly turned away from Loly to stare out the window. "She does intrigue me." Aizen replied.

"She's nothing special." Loly countered bitterly.

"You're entitled to your opinion. But I disagree. I'm pretty certain she's the next Miss Japan."

Aizen finally turned away from the window and strode back toward Loly. "Do you know why I got involved in beauty pageants in the first place?" Aizen took Loly's silence as a no and continued. "Beauty pageant contestants have very low self esteem. When you are constantly being judged and compared to other girls, it really messes with one's psyche. All it takes is a few kind words and I have them wrapped around my finger. Another plus is how eager beauty pageant girls are to please." Aizen concluded with a lewd smile.

"You're sick." Loly hissed.

"I think we're done here. Get out of my office." Aizen said dismissively before seating himself at his desk and shuffling through paperwork.

Orihime quickly but quietly ran from the office before she was caught eavesdropping.

IV.

Ichigo tried to concentrate on the summer math assignment, but he was having a lot of trouble concentrating when Tatsuki was shooting him a look that could kill. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before turning back to the problem. He began to chew on the back of the pencil nervously when Tatsuki's look still hadn't softened 5 minutes later. He sighed before setting down his pencil on the coffe table and turning toward Tatsuki. "What?"

Tatsuki seemed to get even angrier, if possible. "You know what, you selfish bastard."

"Look. I'm glad you made a new friend but I think you should remember where your loyalty lies. I mean, you've known me for over ten years and now you're taking her side even though you've only known her for a week." Ichigo complained.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Grow up Ichigo. Deep down you know you're wrong."

Ichigo glared at Tatsuki as he struggled to control his temper. "I don't know what Inoue told you-"

"Oh, she's been downgraded to Inoue now!" Tatsuki interrupted.

"As I was saying, I don't know what she told you but I'm sure it wasn't the whole story. Just leave it alone Tatsuki. I'm not going to make you choose or anything but I don't want to talk about her or see her ever again." Ichigo said.

"You're an idiot. You do know you're never going to find another girl like her don't you?" Tatsuki questioned.

Ichigo ignored her and went back to his homework.

"Tomorrow could be your last chance to fix this whole mess. You'll have no way to get in touch with her after tomorrow. So make a decision. Do you want to keep being stubborn and make both you and Orihime miserable or do you want to be mature and admit that you made a mistake?" When Ichigo continued on with his work as if he hadn't heard her, Tatsuki sighed and gathered her things. "I'm gonna go. Think about it."

Tatsuki softly shut the door to the Kurosaki house behind her and started home. 'I really hope that knocked some sense into that stubborn idiot.'

author's note:

Well, I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm glad I finally got that chapter done. Next chapter is finally the pageant so that should be a fun one to write! I haven't updated in so long that I'm sure no one remembers what they wrote so I'll just skip review responses this time. Please review! P.S. apparently, has changed the way you can put in dividers so sorry if the scene changes were confusing.