Chapter 6: And Situations are Confusing.

Two weeks later...

Ichigo rolls over inside his bed and with a scowl pressed firm across his face, he looks directly over to the desk situated beside his bed; directly above the frame of his bed he reaches over to grab his alarm clock.

With a sudden lurch, he slams the clock back onto his nightstand and throws the blankets off in haste as he dashes towards his dresser.

"Shit! I'm late!" He shouts in dismay as he furiously throws his clothes over his shoulders, trying to find his school uniform underneath.

"What the hell happened to my alarm?!" He yells angrily as he runs over to his closet and pulls out a clean beige-colored uniform sweater.

He hadn't had any nightmares plaguing his sleep this time and it was a relief to him as it was a curse to be able to sleep soundly.

But he knew today, just wasn't going to be his day.

For one, he slept in, now he's 15 minutes late for class and that means he would be rushing around inside the empty household trying to get all his shit together.

And another thing...

He's supposed to meet up with Kisuke at his place after school.

Well...He didn't really have to meet with up Kisuke, per se...But he did tell the blonde-haired man the day before that he would try and stop by his shop today, in order to study for a test.

He doesn't know whether or not if Kisuke will take him on his word and wait for his arrival at the shop, but he also knew that he didn't exactly promise Kisuke that he would stop by and study at his shop after school either. So it wasn't written in stone that he'll be visiting Kisuke today so he doesn't really need to go.

But the confusing thing is…Ichigo wants to go, and that's what's troubling him...

Kisuke, in the eyes of Ichigo, has changed a lot since they first met. Kisuke wasn't ignoring him, or pushing him away, or being a smart ass either, but he was being...Not Kisuke at the same time.

Hell yeah Kisuke is still annoying, and he's still frustrating as hell, but he's also being...So nice to him lately that it's puzzling. Whether Kisuke is being nice out of sympathy, or if it's just his choice, Ichigo didn't know, and he doesn't really want to know either.

He's just glad that Kisuke is helping him in his own sort of way, and is relieved that he's finally looking towards a future, without having that empty feeling hurting his chest at the mere thought.

Two weeks may have past, and its March now, but Ichigo still gets the little bouts of depression from time to time and he knows that that'll never change. But they are slowly starting to fade away and are almost non-existent now as he spends his days with the blonde-haired man.

With the help of homework, his family, and Kisuke, it's as though he momentarily forgets his troubles and just lives his life how he would normally live it, even without his soul reaper powers.

Of course his friends are always there helping him, and keeping his mind occupied, but it's really been with the help of Kisuke that he's finally feeling...Like himself again. Whole, instead of empty.

Ichigo can't remember the last time he laughed, but he also can't remember the last time he cried either. His life, for now, has turned back to normal.

Now, it's only a matter of time before Ichigo once again gets used to his little life full of routines and normal everyday teenager problems.

As Ichigo quickly gets dressed into his school uniform, struggling to put on his maroon colored winter coat on as well as zip it up, he turns abruptly around and runs to the bathroom, messily combs through his hair, brushes his teeth fast; and swearing at the top of his lungs when he accidentally jabs his toothbrush into his gums a little bit harder than completely necessary, and after done with that task he runs down stairs, rushes to the kitchen and goes straight to the fridge. He grabs himself an apple—for the hell of it—because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, he then quickly jumps into his sneakers and stubs his toe out the door with a loud curse flying from his lips.

He begins running down the street, biting into his apple with vigor as he quickly runs pass several houses. Karakura High is a bit far from his place, but it's nothing that back alleys, and running through random backyards can't help speed up that long and tiring journey.

Jumping over a wooden fence, and landing on his feet without trouble, he jumps over a dog house, runs pass the old couple sitting in their rocking chairs on their porch and jumps over the other side of the fence as he takes a sharp left-hand turn to dash down the alley.

And smiling to himself all the while.

After a week of fighting off a cold, he felt more energized than usual. He's able to run long distances again without having to stop to cough out a lung, and he's able to yell as loud as he can again at Kisuke when he's bothering him.

But even with all those positive thoughts, he's still doubting the fact that he will show up to school on time.

'Hopefully the second bell hasn't rung yet...!' Ichigo thought, biting his lip nervously as he skids across the snow, almost losing his balance in the process, but soon he regains it as he once again starts running down the streets without fail.

The first bell had already rung and he's hoping that he makes it into class before the tardy bell rings. He doesn't want to be late again, he was already late for class yesterday, for the fact that his father was bugging the crap out of him—who the hell wakes their son up, by putting them in a head-lock?—and now he'll probably be late yet again, all because he actually had a good night's rest and had slept in.

He blows a stray orange bang away from his eye and folds a longer strand of hair behind his ear. His hair is getting longer to the point where his spiky bangs could fall in front of his eyes and frame both sides of his face, and he can feel his hair tickle the back of his neck as well. It's almost long enough to where he can put it into a small pony-tail behind his head. He definitely needed a haircut before he starts looking like a certain red-headed, loud mouth, tattoo wearing moron.

He usually gets his haircut by help of Yuzu, but recently Yuzu, as goes the rest of his family has been quite busy lately.

A lot of patients have been showing up inside their clinic/home for a while now. Claiming to have severe migraines, dizzy spells, bouts of hysteria and memory loss, and for some strange reason mostly all of the patients that have been showing up at their door step—whether it be the elders, teenagers, and even children—have all claimed to have those exact same symptoms. It's odd. And there was really nothing his father could do about it, other than the fact that he prescribes them pain and headache medication, and orders them to bed rest.

Ichigo couldn't think of a good enough reason why they all claim to have these exact same symptoms, he was thinking that maybe it was something in the water they are drinking, or maybe they're all battling the flu bug—considering it is winter—and because March is the coldest month of the season. But everything just doesn't add up.

Ichigo shakes his head to relieve him of the brain wracking and focuses fully on his surroundings. He can't stop to think about it now, not when he's late for school and not when he has his own problems to deal with, and especially not when he's trying hard to not forget about what he had just studied the night before.

With the help of a certain blonde-haired shop keeper tutoring him.

He soon scowls at his own train of thought as he runs pass the school's gates and heads straight for the front doors of the building. His chest heaving and his heart hammering like a war drum all the while, he wasn't sick anymore and nothing was holding him back now, but as soon as he jogs up the steps and quickly pulls open the school doors, he runs right into someone on his way through the doorway.

"Wah!" He shouts in dismay as he goes careening into somebody's chest, hard, and flies forward in his momentum.

Along with the stranger, who he practically tackled down to the floor in his haste.

"Ugh..." They groan in unison from the tiled floor.

Ichigo quickly lifts his head off of the stranger's chest and meets eye to eye with none other than the man plaguing his thoughts, Kisuke Urahara.

"Kisuke?" Ichigo calls the man's name dubiously as he furrows his eyebrows together in confusion, he lifts himself off of the man and sits down directly at Kisuke's feet. "What're you doing here?" He asks as he rubs his forehead gingerly.

Kisuke groans quietly as well as he sits up from the floor, rubbing the middle of his chest with slight pain evident inside his facial expression. "Owie..." He mutters under his breath before looking into Ichigo's confused ridden eyes. "I'm not following you, if that's what you're thinking." Kisuke quickly defends himself. "I just came here to drop off some of your homework assignments that you left at my shop." He explains with a smile as he digs in his black kimono and pulls out sheets of paper and a blue booklet.

"Uhh..." Ichigo trails off in slight surprise as he takes the book and papers offered out towards him from Kisuke. "Thanks," He states offhandedly, blinking in surprise. "I didn't even notice that they were missing. I would've been lost without them." He says with a small smile as he places the papers and booklet into his book-bag at his side. "Thank you." He says with a nod.

"No problem at all, Ichigo." Kisuke states with a warm smile as he shifts closer towards the teen at his feet, timidly he reaches for the teenager's long hair when he notices something fluttering just in between Ichigo's orange bangs.

Ichigo instantly leans backwards with a light blush staining across his cheeks, when he notices the shop keeper reaching towards him. "Wh-what're you?" He asks feverishly as he tightly shuts his eyes and wills his body not to over-react at the small gesture.

When he hears Kisuke chuckling from in front of him, he peeks open his eyes, to see the man looking right at him with a smile stretched widely across his face as he pulls out a dust ball from within his long bangs.

"Dust." Kisuke announces to the teen as he holds the dust between two of his fingers. "Must've caught it when you tackled me to the floor." He states with a chuckle.

Ichigo blushes in embarrassment and ducks his head. "Oh." He mutters simply as he stares down at the floor between them. 'My heart feels like it's going to fall out of my chest.' His head whispers, his eyebrows knitting together with sudden confusion. 'Why?'

"Are you alright? You look troubled." Kisuke asks lightly in concern as he tilts his head to the side and shields the bottom half of his face with his fan. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" He couldn't help but say it with a smile.

Ichigo quickly shakes his head and looks back to Kisuke. "No. B-but I should get to class. I'm already late." He states distractedly as he swiftly gets up from the floor, but before he walks away, he holds out his hand for Kisuke to take.

Which the shop keeper does with an elegant sounding "Why thank you, sir." As he's lifted from the ground without much trouble.

As they both pat themselves down to rid themselves of the dust still clinging to their clothing from the dirty floor; Ichigo peeks his eyes over towards the blonde man, to see him fussing over his black kimono, which is littered with dust and pieces of debris.

He couldn't help but smirk at the man as he takes a step towards him. "You got a lot of dust on your back." Ichigo comments, pointing to the black kimono.

"Where?" Kisuke asks, trying hard to peek over his shoulder.

Ichigo merely shakes his head at the man's idiocy as he helps pluck away the little pieces of garbage. "Everywhere." He states with a small smile.

"And whose fault is that?" Kisuke teases lightly as he tries to turn around. But when he feels Ichigo's hand on his shoulder. He halts mid-step.

"Stand still. I'll help you." Ichigo states as he begins plucking away the pieces of rubbish. "I'm already late for class anyways, so what's another five minutes?" He announces quietly. Inwardly he shakes his head at his own foolish decision as he flicks away the dusts still clinging to Kisuke's kimono with a small inaudible sigh slipping past his lips.

Fully knowing that Kisuke is more than capable of handling the dust particles on his own, but for some odd reason, Ichigo wanted to stay and help him. He doesn't know the reason why, but he doesn't want to question it either. A rather scary, yet delicate, balance.

"Thank you..." Kisuke states, voice heavy and heart pounding inside his chest. He can feel Ichigo's fingertips lightly ghosting over his shoulder blades in a deliciously frenzied rhythm. He shivers lightly when he feels the teenager's fingertips glide gently across his right shoulder blade, a rather sensitive area upon his back. And he tilts his head back further, allowing the teenager to do as he will.

"Did you come all the way to school, just to drop off my book?" Ichigo casually asks, just to start up a conversation. It was way too damn quiet and it was like they were doing something...Intimate in the hallway. When he was merely helping Kisuke clean off his kimono.

Which was weird in its own way, even though it's a completely innocent act. Ichigo couldn't help but feel as though he's doing something...Dirty. And if someone were to walk out and see them, he had a feeling that he would most likely die of utter embarrassment and vow to never lay a hand upon Kisuke again.

'I'm over thinking things...' Ichigo mentally sighs heavily at himself in disappointment.

Kisuke soon clears his throat, head still slightly tilted back. "Uh, yeah. I was going to drop off your assignments last night, but then I figured since you went home pretty late, you were probably already asleep. So I waited until today." He explains with a smile heard in his tone, but none seen on his expression. He couldn't exactly smile when he can feel Ichigo's delicate hands gliding every which way across his shoulders. It was very distracting, not to mention very...Delightful. And damn Ichigo for being so gentle for once in his life.

Ichigo nods his head in satisfaction soon after looking every which way across Kisuke's now clean back and finds that he had successfully cleaned off the entire kimono.

But even though he cleaned off the kimono, his hands were still moving on their own accord.

Ichigo shifts his weight onto the other leg, and right when he was about to pull away, he accidentally presses a bit too heavily onto Kisuke's right shoulder blade with his finger's.

Which causes the man in front of him to give a loud gasp and a hard shudder.

Ichigo quickly takes his hands away after that as he blushes brightly.

Kisuke takes two steps forward and spins around on his heel with a bright—and completely fake—smile. "Sorry! You startled me." He announces in embarrassment as he hides his face behind his fan, easily noticing the surprised facial expression that Ichigo has on with mortification.

Ichigo clears his throat and shifts his book-bag more comfortably upon his shoulder. "S-sorry. Guess I should go..." He trails off as he thumbs behind his shoulder. "The bell must've rung a long time ago." He announces, mostly to himself, as he gives Kisuke a wave of his hand and turns around.

Immediately he blushes brightly as he recalls the gasp he heard. 'Ticklish, he's ticklish. It wasn't a certain type of gasp. Wait! What am I thinking? Of course it wasn't that kind of gasp! Why would I even bring it up?!' His mind screams as he quickly shakes his head, trying hard to think about something else, other than the man behind him.

"Ichigo!" He hears Kisuke call from behind him.

Ichigo wills the blush away from his face as he turns his head over his shoulder with a small scowl pressed across his face. Wanting to appear as normal as possible in the analytic eyes of Kisuke Urahara. "Yeah?" He calls back gruffly.

"Will you be studying at my shop after school?" Kisuke asks, tilting his head to the side, and still hiding the bottom half of his face with his fan.

'If you gasp again.' Ichigo's mind chimes. He blushes brightly and spins around quickly. 'What the fuck?!' He screams inside his head. "Yeah! I'll go over after school!" Ichigo loudly calls from over his shoulder as he waves behind his head once again and proceeds down the hall.

Taking longer strides and faster steps than necessary. Practically stomping all the way down the hall until he was far away from Kisuke and out of ear-shot altogether.

When he hears the front doors of the school opening and closing behind him down the hallway, he sighs heavily in relief as he takes a left hand turn.

He then stops in the hall after rounding the corner and bangs his back against the wall as he places a hand over his chest. Feeling his heart thumping against his chest erratically. 'This is Kisuke! Kisuke Urahara! The MAN that helped me train, a perverted type of MAN, an IDIOT of a MAN. Who's a MAN. My heart should NOT be beating this hard for another MAN.' He thought furiously and in mild shame as he lightly punches the middle of his chest, wanting his heart to stop the erratic and excited beat. Still, he felt his cheeks light up considerably when he hears Kisuke gasp inside his head once again. 'His head was tilted back too…' His mind comments.

"Shut up!" He shouts at himself as he pulls his orange bangs over his feverishly blushing face.

"Ichigo?"

"It's nothing!" Ichigo shouts aloud as he quickly turns towards the voice, to see Orihime blinking owlishly up at him, with her hand hanging in mid-hair towards him. His blushing face only becomes all the more brighter as he glances at his surroundings. "U-uhh..." He trails off, sounding just as idiotic as he must look. He clears his throat loudly and averts his gaze to his sneakers. "Hi Orihime...What's up?" He asks casually, scratching at his head nervously.

Orihime tilts her head to the side in confusion, but soon smiles brightly as she waves her hand dismissively. "Oh! Nothing at all! I was just wondering why you were yelling at yourself in the hallway, but I can see that you're perfectly fine!" She states, all too happily as she points down the hallway eagerly. "Let's head to class! I guess we both woke up kind of late, huh? Heh heh, heheheheh, heh heh..." She laughs.

And the laugh Ichigo heard was the most sickest, most faked thing he had ever heard come out of her happily smiling mouth. But he'd rather not question her nervousness as they start heading to their class in stride with one another, deciding that it's better not to start up a conversation about why she is laughing so awkwardly. Because he was probably the reason why.

"Was that Kisuke I saw leaving the school?" Orihime soon asks casually as she hugs her books to her breasts.

Ichigo face flushes unintentionally at the mere mention of Kisuke's name, and silently he curses his own reaction as he nods his head. "Y-yeah, that was him." He says, forcing out the answer with a squeak heard in his voice.

"Wonder what he was doing here...?" Orihime trails off in what sounds like curiosity as she hums lightly under her breath in thought. "Maybe he's a new teacher here!" She soon gasps in surprise. "Or maybe he's—Ichigo?" She suddenly calls Ichigo's name when she happens to notice that Ichigo is falling behind her inside the hallway.

Instantly she knew that something was off with him. She can tell that much just by looking at him, not to mention he was blushing rather heatedly when she happened to bump into him. He must've been thinking about something pretty hard to make him get lost in thought like that, because Ichigo soon looks up at her in surprise, and she can still see the light blush staining his scowling expression.

Ichigo then plasters on a fake smile as he quickly picks up his pace and begins walking once again beside Orihime. "Huh? What were you saying, Orihime?" He asks politely. If talking to the most talkative girl in school would help him forget about what had just happened in the hallway, then he was willing to give it a shot.

Orihime shakes her head with a wide smile as she scratches behind her head. "Nothing at all! Just babbling as usual heh heh." She giggles timidly as she hugs her books tighter to her chest and looks down to the tiled floor at her shoes.

'Something is obviously bothering him...Should I ask him about it?' She thought, eyes sparkling with emotion. 'But the last time we asked what was wrong with Ichigo, he got even more depressed and even angry at us...Maybe I should just leave him alone for now..? Maybe he'll tell me about it sooner or later...?' She thought, and with a single nod of her orange colored head she comes up with an idea. 'Ichigo probably won't tell me or anyone else what's bugging him. Then maybe I'll just investigate with Tatsuki later. Ooh! Super-Secret Investigation Time! I can finally wear my black hat and matching black gloves!' She thought in pure excitement as she does a single fist pump in the air with a devious little giggle slipping past her lips.

"Uh...Orihime?"

"Yeah?!" She shouts loudly in surprise as she looks over her shoulder with a larger-than-normal-grin.

When she looks at Ichigo's confused expression, he thumbs towards the door beside him, and cocks her head to the side in confusion.

"This is your classroom." Ichigo explains to the air-headed girl, who then laughs loudly as she practically runs into the classroom beside him. He soon sighs under his breath and walks towards his own classroom located just beside the one Orihime ran into.

With his face twisted into a confused scowl, he then absorbs himself with his confused ridden thoughts. 'Kisuke is just…Being Kisuke! So what if he…If he's so…I'm thinking too much…I'm still thinking about him, damn it! Why can't he get outta my head for once?' He harshly scolds himself.

...

As Ichigo sits inside his class, tuning out everything around him as he writes down the notes written across the black board; his thoughts keep reeling back to the days that he and Kisuke have spent together.

They have been hanging out more than usual as of recent. Some days they won't see each other at all, some days they will spend the entire day together. And some other days, they will casually bump into one another on the streets and start having conversations right in the middle of the streets.

Either way, no matter how hard Ichigo looked at it, they've been spending a lot of their days with each other, simply talking, or walking without saying two words to each other. Just merely taken-in the day and basking in each other's comfortable silence.

He was beginning to think that it must look suspicious in the eyes of the many people around them. They've been spending too much time together, even he can admit that. But at the same time, he doesn't really give a shit either. It was his business and his alone, and if people didn't like the idea, then tough. Kisuke makes him happy.

Ichigo shakes his head at his train of thought and starts writing down more of the notes on the board. Notes that he should be studying for his final.

'Does Kisuke find it odd that we're hanging out together more than usual too? Or…Does he not think about it at all?' Now that he thought about it, Kisuke has been acting differently around him, as though he's tip-toeing around certain conversations and subjects with him.

Like he was hiding something from him.

Sure, Kisuke is still his usual annoying self, frustrating as hell and Ichigo constantly finds himself having to threaten Kisuke in order to keep his damn mouth shut every once in a while, but Ichigo has started to notice that the man is avoiding eye contact with him as well, and it's like he's doing it on purpose too, and it doesn't matter whether Ichigo tilts his head to the side to try and read the emotion in his eyes, Kisuke would immediately turn his head away or hide behind his fan.

And then there was that one time, where Ichigo was back at Kisuke's shop, wrestling with Jinta—more like actual fighting to the point where fists started flying and curse words were being exchanged; and Jinta—that little skeeze—had knocked him out cold, with his infamous broom and when Ichigo awoke, he found Kisuke hovering over him, eyes full of concern and worry.

It was nice seeing that expression on Kisuke's face, but when he got up to ask how long he was out, Kisuke suddenly plasters on his fake smile and responds with a cheery sounding. "Oh! For a while now Mr. Kurosaki! I thought you were dead." As he then starts laughing loudly.

Ichigo, or course, responds to that fake enthusiasm by punching Kisuke's light's out as he swiftly walks away, muttering under his breath a hurried retort of: "Seems like you were worried." Sarcastically from over his shoulder.

He knows he shouldn't have punched Kisuke. Because the man really was worried about him when he woke up...But at the same time, he wanted Kisuke to fuss over him, and not put on an act to be this happy-go-lucky shop keeper that he pretends to be around him and the others.

It's strange, and it is something that Ichigo has never felt before; he had never wanted anyone to make a big deal out of him before, not ever. And he doesn't even know the reason why he wanted Kisuke to worry about him in the first place, but it was just...A nice feeling to be worried over and fussed by the man. Comforting almost.

If only Kisuke would stop being such a fool around him and just be that calm, smooth and sauvé person that Ichigo has seen back in the steak house that he and Kisuke had went to a couple weeks back.

He liked that version of Kisuke, to the point where he wanted to see that side of the man more often.

Ichigo sighs heavily at the memory as he scribbles more notes down onto his book haphazardly, uncaring whether or not if his hand writing was neat.

The more Ichigo thought about it, each visit he makes with blonde-haired man, brings him just a little closer to seeing the man that Kisuke really is. And Kisuke gets to see the real him in exchange. But with each step they take, another would take a step back. He doesn't know whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing, but if he's becoming closer to the mysterious man, than he was willing to show Kisuke just who exactly he was.

It was like a game, this friendship he was in with Kisuke. Every time they both get one step closer to one another, someone would suddenly take three steps back, just to see the reaction it causes. It's an amusing game, to say the least. But a very delicate and infuriating balance as well.

Kisuke likes to hide things from him, and he likes to hide things from Kisuke. A secretive kind of game, but will there ever be a winner in the end of it all?

...

The orange-haired teenager walks out the double doors of Karakura High with a deep sigh of relief slipping past his lips; his breath creating a small misty cloud in the chilling air of early March with the exhale. He shakes his shoulders; his book-bag's weight unnaturally heavy that it causes his arm to go momentarily numb and unfeeling. He looks up to the clear blue sky over his bright orange head and let's a flinch of a smile appear across his youthful features, he then hops down the stairs.

'Time to go to Kisuke's.' He notes inside his head distractedly, without his knowing.

"Ichigo!"

He tilts his head in the direction of where the voice was coming from and turns around, to see Orihime waving her hand above her head from within the hallway behind him, and looking anything but nervous, like he had seen within the teenage girl earlier that day.

Ichigo offers the bubbly girl a small smile as he waits for her at the bottom of the steps. "Hi Orihime, is something wrong?" He asks casually as he shifts his weight onto his other leg, slinging his heavy book-bag over his other shoulder more comfortably.

Orihime hops down the last remaining step and smiles happily up at the taller teen. "Nothing is wrong! I just wanted to know where you were planning on heading after school." She asks casually, wanting to appear as normal as possible in the eyes of Ichigo.

Who tilts his head up to the sky in thought. "Uhh, I don't know. I was planning on studying over at my house today. So I think I'll be pretty busy..." He replies, bead of sweat licking the side of his forehead as he timidly scratches his cheek. 'Why am I lying to her?' He thought dubiously as he looks down at his sneakers.

"Oh! Okay!" Orihime replies, smiling widely. "Well, I guess I should go do the same thing then. I'll see tomorrow Ichigo! Good luck studying!" She hollers merrily from over her shoulder as she starts jogging up ahead, waving down her dark haired friend, named Tatsuki.

Who waves over to Ichigo as well, before she walks in stride with the happily smiling Orihime.

Ichigo waves his hand over his head at the duo, before proceeding on to his destination.

Which was Urahara's shop.

As he walks past the gates of Karakura High, he looks down at his shoes with confusion crumpling his once happily smiling expression.

'Why did I lie to Orihime like that? I should've just told her the truth and ask her if she wanted to join...' Ichigo thought quizzically, unsure of his own decision. 'I told Urahara that I would study at his place right after school, and he was perfectly fine with that idea, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have mind if I invited the rest of my friends over...' His inner voice trails off suspiciously. 'It feels like I'm hiding something from them...Even I'm starting to think that I'm hiding something from myself. Like I'm keeping a secret…Almost like I'm keeping Kisuke a secret.' He thought as he scowls down at his sneakers.

As Ichigo continues to glare down at his own shoes, deep in thought, he doesn't bother to watch where he's going as he continues to walk across the street. His legs naturally leading him to his destination without him even having to look up.

He suspected that even if he was blind-folded, he would still easily find his way to Urahara's shop no problem.

Taking into consideration that Ichigo had visited his shop so many times already, he might as well live there.

'That's saying something...' Ichigo thought, narrowing his eyes in disdain.

...

"Urahara? You here?" Ichigo calls from within the doorway of the notorious candy store just as he walks into the shop.

He gently places his book-bag onto the floor at his usual sitting spot at the rounded, circle shaped table as he slides open the door nearest to the table. Just to let some cool fresh air waft into the surprisingly hot candy shop.

He shrugs out of his jacket and hangs it onto the coat rack near the door and sits down in his spot soon after, facing the door with his back pressed against the wall, he drags his book-bag to his side at the table and pulls out the required books he needed in order to study.

"Ichigo?"

Said teen turns his head into the direction of Urahara's voice and gives the blonde-haired man a two finger salute. "Yo." He greets casually, before his eyebrows shoot up practically to his hairline at the sight of Kisuke's choice of clothing.

Which was a plain white dress shirt, top two buttons at the collar undone as he paired it off with tanned colored jeans, that are...Surprisingly...Tight-fitted. With his green and white striped hat all but forgotten about as his unruly blonde hair is—surprisingly enough—kept tied back in a messy pony-tail behind his head, bright blonde bangs framing the sides of his handsome face and hanging down the center of his nose.

Kisuke walks to Ichigo's side at the table with his Benihime clutched inside his hand and he happily takes a seat beside the gawking teenager. "Hello Ichigo, I didn't even hear you come in." He states in his delighted tone of voice as he smiles crookedly at Ichigo, who is sitting just a few inches away from him.

Kisuke soon cocks his head to the side in confusion when he notices that Ichigo is simply staring at him, unblinking, and staring like he had done the day they both went to the restaurant two weeks back.

He starts to visibly fidget under Ichigo's constant stare—after silent seconds tick-on by without a care in the world and he clears his throat to fully grab the teenager's attention. "You're staring again, Mr. Kurosaki..." He comments quietly, nervously wringing his hands around Benihime's hilt.

Ichigo blinks his eyes numerous times and shakes his head fast. "O-oh...Sorry." He replies in embarrassment as he meekly scratches his flushed cheek. "I guess I'm still not used to seeing you wear normal human clothes yet." He states with a lop-sided smirk.

Unintentionally making Kisuke's heart-hammer inside his chest at the mentioning of the word "Yet" as though he plans to see the man dress in normal human outfits more often.

"Why are you wearing normal clothes anyways?" Ichigo soon asks, looking at Kisuke's clothing once again, eyes unconsciously racking down every inch of Kisuke's body.

Kisuke looks down at his clothes and shrugs a shoulder casually. "I had a meeting with some very important people this afternoon. Basically they told me that they liked a certain invention that I had created, which I had sent to them via mail order many months back on a whim, they also told me that they are willing to send me to Tokyo for a five day, all-expense paid trip, in order for me to try and expand my idea to the more experienced—Ahem, uh, Ichigo? Are you even listening?" Kisuke suddenly asks, cutting off his sentence mid-speech, when he notices that the teenager was simply staring at him, rather sardonically.

Looking to be bored out of his skull actually.

"Uhh..." Ichigo trails off. "Hardly..." He soon admits as he averts his gaze. "I'm not one for long stories...Or business talk..." He deadpans, pursing his lip at his own flaw.

Kisuke merely smiles small at the teenagers blunt attitude and points to the papers and stack of text books piled right in front of Ichigo at the table. "Well, since I'm boring you." He states with a passionate roll of his eyes. "Are you studying all of these?" He asks casually, picking up the nearest book and flicking through the pages in fake interest. He merely wanted to change the subject and direct Ichigo's attention on something other than himself.

Ichigo looks back down to his books and shakes his head in refusal. "No. I'm only studying for this," He then slides a long list of notes from his booklet and points to the text book in Kisuke's hands. "And I have to memorize just a few subjects from that book. I already have them highlighted." He notes.

"Oh..." Kisuke trails off, before he smiles broadly at the teen. "Well this is too much work for me!" He exclaims loudly, tossing the book over to Ichigo with a smile. "If you're gonna be studying, I might as well make some tea!" He announces in a chipper voice as he gets up from his spot at the table and walks to the kitchen.

Ichigo's eyes unintentionally following after Kisuke's retreating figure soon after his departure, his eyes sweeping up and down the older male's backside. Watching in light fascination—and surprise—at Kisuke's sashaying, almost hypnotizing, stride. The blonde-haired man looks as though he was sauntering with radiating confidence.

'Like he knows I'm watching him leave...' Ichigo thought, eyes still glued to Kisuke's back and long model-esque legs.

And soon as that thought runs through his mind, his eyes widen considerably and quickly he takes his eyes off of Kisuke's hypnotizing figure and curses his own idiotic—not to mention incredibly embarrassing—reaction under his breath.

But when the pleasant image of Kisuke wearing such form fitting pants comes popping up inside his head once again, he couldn't help but blush.

'Why am I reacting this way? I feel like such a pervert right now!' He thought furiously, narrowing his eyes down at his text books. Eyes unseeing to his own surroundings as he focuses fully on his thoughts. 'I never...I don't remember ever feeling like this...Or thinking this way about anyone…' He lightly presses a hand to his chest and feeling his heart hammer against his hand, like it has done just that morning when he helped Kisuke dust off his kimono.

Ichigo then shakes his head in refusal as he tightly knits his eyebrows together in confusion and frustration. 'Do I...Do I like...Kisuke?' The thought to him sounded completely ridiculous, and having to repeat that several times in his head just sounded unbelievably...Well, gay.

Does that make him gay? For having those kinds of thoughts about Kisuke? Well of course no straight man watches another man leave a room, especially when said "straight man" only keeps his eyes on another man's ass.

"Tea time!" Kisuke rejoices cheerfully as he sets the tray down onto the table. Blinking in surprise at the way Ichigo nearly jumps out of his skin when he merely placed the tea tray down in front of him.

It seems as though he has just successfully disturbed Ichigo from his train of thought.

"I'm sorry, were you concentrating on your studying?" Kisuke asks, a bit of regret heard inside his tone as he purses his lip in displeasure. "Sorry!" He soon chirps happily as he waves his fan about in the air.

Ichigo shakes his head fast as he quickly occupies himself, and his mind, by pouring the tea into two separate cups. "N-no! I wasn't studying..."

'I don't think I'll be able to study at all...Not with the way my train of thoughts are going...' Ichigo thought, intently staring at his shaking hands, which are messily pouring tea all over the cups, including the table.

Kisuke's eyes follow every shaky and rattled movement Ichigo is making, rather intently, and that's when he knew that something was up with the younger male.

Gently Kisuke places his hand on top of Ichigo's trembling arm, and stares deeply into the startled eyes of the younger male looking straight at him. Easily detecting the surprise and nervousness clouding the teenager's light brown eyes.

"Ichigo...What's wrong...?" Kisuke asks gently, grey eyes still searching for an answer within the boy.

Ichigo then averts his gaze to the table between them and tightly shuts both his eyes, lowering his shaking limbs in order to set the tea-pot down he quietly clears his throat. "M-my...My thoughts are..." He trails off, unsure of how to word his confusing thoughts. "I'm feeling really..." He tries again, but then sighs heavily in frustration at his sudden stuttering problem as he fists his hands on the table in vexation. "I don't know what's wrong with me!" He states instead as he looks shamefully down to the floor.

Kisuke didn't know what was wrong with Ichigo any more than Ichigo knew himself. Wasn't the teenager just fine this morning? He was acting like himself these past few days as well, he was smiling again, talking so casually and earnestly that Kisuke thought that Ichigo Kurosaki was actually back and here to stay once again.

But now here they sat at his table inside his shop, with Ichigo's head bowed in shame and Kisuke feeling just bit further away from the teenager than before.

He knew that the teenager tends to over-think things and that he troubles himself with just his thoughts alone. But the question was, how could he possibly make Ichigo feel better? And make him momentarily forget his problems all at once?

"Tell me what you're thinking." Kisuke commands, but in a soft, kinder tone of voice as he shifts closer to Ichigo side at the table, wanting his full attention.

Which the teenager all too shyly gives him as he peeks his light brown eyes up at the blonde-haired man—who is now sitting closer to him at the table—from underneath his long orange bangs.

Timidly Ichigo reaches for his tea and gently places the rim of the cup between his scowling lips. 'How should I tell Kisuke what's on my mind, without actually telling him that he's the one causing me trouble?' Ichigo thought in confusion.

The teen then sighs blissfully at the warmth of the tea that cascades down his throat and gently places the cup back down onto the table, before finally meeting Kisuke's depicting stare, as though that shot alone gave him the courage he most definitely needed.

"Did you ever like someone that you're not supposed to?" Ichigo suddenly blurts, sounding immensely curious as he stares into Kisuke's surprised, and rather shocked, looking grey eyes.

"Wh-what?" The shop-keeper breathes.

"You heard me." Ichigo deadpans, pursing his lip stubbornly.

Kisuke wrinkles his eyebrows together in confusion, before slowly shaking his head. "No..." he trails off uncertainly. "What exactly does this have to do about you?" Then a light-bulb flicks on inside his brain. "Wait...Do you...Have feelings...For someone you're not supposed to?" Kisuke slowly pronounces, disbelief easily heard inside his tone as he grey eyes widen further at the sight before him.

Ichigo is now looking shamefully down at the table between them, with a bright blush staining across his cheeks.

And that's all Kisuke needed to see to know Ichigo's exact answer.

"When you put it like that, it sounds like you're surprised." Ichigo states in embarrassment as he fusses with the beaded bracelet around his wrist.

'He does have feelings for someone...' Kisuke thought, heart pounding painfully inside his chest. 'Should I ask him who it is?' He thought in confusion.

Ichigo sighs heavily and scratches his head. "Look, I don't know how I feel. I'm just starting to realize this myself and I don't know what I should do about it right now." He states in complete honesty as he looks back to Kisuke. "If I just go about it, yenno, like take it day by day and stuff, maybe I'll realize something. But for now, I don't know what I should think, or what I should do. So I'm just leaving everything as they are. Maybe the feelings will go away by itself and maybe it won't. I'll just have to wait and see for myself." Ichigo declares, nodding his head at his own choice of words as he sets his chin in the middle of his palm and props his arm up on the table. "You get what I'm trying to say?" Ichigo asks, a bit unsure of Kisuke's reaction as he looks towards the blonde-haired man.

Kisuke's reaction wasn't much of a reaction at all. No scratch that, the shop keeper didn't react at all. Period. There wasn't any expression on his usually happily smiling face, just complete apathy.

Did he say something wrong? Did Kisuke actually figure out that he was actually talking about him all along?

"Oh, I see what you're saying." Kisuke announces, voice set in a monotone. "And I completely understand. You should give it time, Ichigo. You don't want to rush these kinds of things." He states, voice and eyes serious.

Ichigo peers closer at the man in front of him, at the stranger sitting before him, and felt that this person sitting in front of him, wasn't Kisuke at all. Kisuke never talked in such a serious manner, only when it concerned much more important things such as the soul society and other things that are happening inside Karakura Town. Kisuke is acting like a much different person, not even bothering to give him advice on top of that.

What happened to his idiotic shop keeper?

Ichigo shifts uncomfortably in his spot. "Hey...You alright Kisuke? You look sick or something." Ichigo tries to change the subject, before Kisuke got even more serious. He needed the other Kisuke back and fast if he ever wanted him to act normal again and to make the guilt go away.

Kisuke quickly blinks his eyes and looks back up at Ichigo with a bright smile. "I'm fine Mr. Kurosaki!" He exclaims with a grin. "I think I'll take a nap though, just in case I am coming down with something." He states with a melancholy smile as he gets up from the table.

"W-wait...Kisuke!" Ichigo tries to reason with the man as he reaches over the table in order to grab hold of Kisuke's wrist, but it is soon pulled completely out of his reach as Kisuke abruptly throws his arms up in the air, in what looked to be a cheer.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room!" The blonde-haired man sings merrily from over his shoulder as he makes a hasty retreat to his room, arms still held high above his head as he all but whoops and cheers down the hallway.

Leaving behind a very confused looking Ichigo at the table. 'Did I say something wrong...?' He thought dubiously. 'Maybe I did...Maybe I asked too personal of a question. Maybe he actually did like someone, but it never worked out...?' Ichigo then starts dreading the thought that maybe he did bring up a rather touchy subject with the man.

Considering that he barely knew Kisuke's life in the past at all, prior to him meeting Kisuke. Maybe the man did fall in love with someone, but he never got the chance to do anything about it until it was too late?

Then a thought occurred to him. A rather depressing thought.

'Will that happen to me...?' Ichigo quickly disdained that idea, he didn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to worry about such thing happening to him, he has too much on his plate already. How could he possibly get caught up in all this, when he has so much to deal with?

But with his head telling him to run to the man and demand an explanation on why he'd abruptly left, he couldn't exactly focus on his homework and studying, not without the feeling of worry blossoming inside his chest.

He soon shakes his head with an exasperated sigh slipping past his lips as he swiftly takes the pencil in his hand and holds it near the table. "I came here to study..." Ichigo announces, looking down to his neglected pile of books and papers. "The least I could do is actually study." But even as he pulls out a sheet of paper, and continues doing the notes and solving his past mistakes, his thoughts kept reeling back to Kisuke.


This one is a little bit longer.

Well there you have it, chapter 6 that is under chapter 7 of "Wicked Games" I'm planning on re-titling the story. But that's still under consideration. I just don't like the title of this story, I need something less confusing. Oh well, I'll figure it out sooner or later.

-Hella.