I don't own bleach or any of characters, they are all property of Tite Kubo.
It was two weeks after Ichigo's graduation party and things at the Kurosaki household were unusually quiet. Yuzu was silently crying while Ichigo and Isshin were packing boxes in the car. "It'll be okay Yuzu," Rukia said while she tried to comfort her friend.
"I know, I'm just going to miss him," she replied.
"He's just moving closer to school," answered Karin trying to sound strong, but the quiver in her voice gave her away.
"But why so soon?" questioned Yuzu.
"You two explained it to me earlier, remember? You said Ichigo was moving closer to campus during summer break because he wanted to save money for school books and other expenses. I'm sure you and Karin can visit once he's settled in, okay?" Rukia said and Yuzu nodded yes.
Several minutes later Isshin came in to the house and shouted, "Ichigo's all packed and ready to go." Yuzu and Karin then emerged from the kitchen with Rukia trailing behind them. When Yuzu went to hug Ichigo good bye, the tears were freely falling from her eyes.
"Don't cry Yuzu, I'll try to visit as often as I can," Ichigo said.
"Okay…and call as often as you can too," she said.
"I will."
"Promise?"
Promise," he said with a small smile.
Karin then went to give Ichigo a hug and said, "Bye Ichi – nii."
"Bye Karin," Ichigo replied as he returned the hug, by the time he let go of Karin, the tears were also falling from her eyes. Ichigo then looked to Rukia, who was also fighting back tears. Rukia unexpectedly threw herself at Ichigo and gave him a hug. "Take care of yourself and don't do anything stupid," she whispered to him.
Ichigo then pulled away and said, "Take care of them for me."
"Of course," Rukia replied as she wiped away her tears.
Ichigo then left with Isshin to get settled into his new apartment. On the way to the apartment Ichigo actually felt somewhat happy knowing that Rukia would miss him. Because that was the first time that the two spoke to each other since their argument about Renji.
Over the summer after Ichigo moved in to his apartment, he rarely went home to visit. Although, he would occasionally call in the mornings. The few times that Ichigo did visit, it would always be on Saturdays when he was sure that company would not be stopping by and he would leave that same night.
Ichigo was visiting home one last time before him and his sisters started school again.
* Knock Knock*
Yuzu opened the door and immediately smiled when she saw who their guest was. "Onii – chan, you didn't say you would be visiting," Yuzu said as she hugged Ichigo and let him in.
"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you and Karin before school started," he replied.
"Well, I was definitely surprised and I'm sure Karin – chan will be too. She's upstairs showering right now, we just finished having breakfast. Did you have breakfast? Do you want breakfast?"
Ichigo blinked as his sister was speaking rather quickly. "Uhh…sure, can I get some breakfast."
"Yup, coming right up," Yuzu said with a smile. As Yuzu was fixing Ichigo's meal, Ichigo asked, "Where's dad? It's way too quiet around here."
"He's not home; he went to take care of something earlier this morning."
"Ah, that explains a lot." Ichigo was then handed his meal and Yuzu went to finish the rest of her household chores.
As Ichigo was eating he heard, "Ichi – nii?" he turned and saw Karin at the kitchen entrance. "Mhey mammin memise," he said and Karin just gave him a confused look. He then swallowed what he was currently eating and asked, "Surprised?"
"Yeah, what are you doing home?"
"Came to visit before school started and before we all got busier."
"Ah, good surprise," she said with a smile. Yuzu then walked into the kitchen and smiled at Karin, "Onii – chan came for a surprise visit."
"I know so just leave the laundry so we can go have fun," replied Karin. Yuzu looked to Ichigo, who had already finished his breakfast and asked, "Ready Onii – chan?" Ichigo nodded yes and the trio left to enjoy the day together.
Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin spent the entire day together and were returning home. "Wow, it's already midnight," Yuzu stated once they were home.
"Did we make you miss your train Ichi – nii?" asked Karin.
"Naw, it's fine. I'll just take one of the morning trains tomorrow," replied Ichigo. The trio then got ready for bed to rest from the eventful day they had shared.
When Yuzu and Karin awoke the next day, they were not surprised to find that Ichigo had already left. "He's gone," stated Karin.
"Yeah, I'm just glad I was able I was able to pack him a meal last night before I went to bed," said Yuzu.
"You packed Ichi – nii a meal?"
"Mhm, I knew he would leave before we woke up. So, I packed him a meal to eat on the train."
"When did you give it to him?"
"I put it in his bag while he was sleeping."
"Ah," was all Karin replied with.
Later that day Rukia showed up to the Kurosaki residence so the girls could discuss how their summers went.
"So how was your summer Rukia – chan?" asked Yuzu.
"It was great! I got to spend so much time with Renji before he left to school and even Nii – sama's corporate parties were interesting. Oh and sometime in the fall there's going to be a party for the children and siblings of corporate members and Nii – sama said you two could come," Rukia said with a smile.
"Not so sure I wanna go to a stuffy corporate party with bratty rich kids," Karin said.
"What are you trying to say?" Rukia asked jokingly.
"Come on Karin – chan, I bet it will be fun. We can get all dressed up. I'm definitely in Rukia – chan," Yuzu said energetically.
"Saying we can get all dressed up won't help convince me, I hate that kinda stuff. But …*sigh* I guess I'll go if it means so much to you two.
"Rukia laughed and said, "I had a feeling you would go. So, how did the two of you spend your summer?"
"It was kinda the usual," replied Karin.
"That's not true! Karin – chan went out with Hitsugaya – kun quite a bit, and dad wasn't too happy about it," stated Yuzu.
"Tch, he thinks I'm gonna get pregnant or something. I can't wait for Ichi – nii to get a girlfriend so dad can bug him and leave me alone," answered Karin.
"Speaking of Ichigo, how is he?" asked Rukia.
"He's doing fine. Onii – chan surprised us yesterday and we spent the day together, it was so much fun," answered Yuzu.
"I see…glad to hear that ass is doing well," Rukia said rather angrily.
"I take it you're still mad at Ichi – nii? What happened that you're still mad at him?" asked Karin.
"Nothing…anyways, Yuzu how was your summer?"
"My summer was boring. Besides Onii – chan coming visit, nothing interesting happened," answered Yuzu.
"Liar, Yuzu went on a few summer dates," stated Karin.
"You did?" Rukia quickly asked.
"Karin – chan!" Yuzu scolded.
"I don't get it. What's so bad about Karin telling me?" asked Rukia.
"It's embarrassing," Yuzu admitted.
"Why?" asked Rukia.
"I thought the boys really liked me, but they only wanted to go out with me so we could kiss and stuff."
"Don't worry Yuzu, you'll find someone who's right for you. Just be patient. And those dumb asses don't know what they missed out on," Rukia said with a smile and Karin nodded in agreement.
The girls then started talking about how excited they were about seeing their other friends at school tomorrow. They chatted and gossiped until Rukia had to go home.
The first day of school was somewhat odd for Rukia. It felt strange reaching the Kurosaki household without greeting Mizuiro good morning and it felt even stranger walking in to the household with out arguing (or ignoring) Ichigo. 'Never thought I would actually miss that fool,' thought Rukia.
As Rukia was walking into the Kurosaki kitchen, she saw Yuzu happily talking on the phone. "Who is she talking to?" Rukia asked Karin.
"She's talking to Ichi – nii," answered Karin.
"Ichigo?"
"Mhm, he calls almost every morning before breakfast," replied Karin.
"Ah," was all that Rukia could say. She wanted to ask how Ichigo was doing, was he adjusting well? Was he still being a nerd? How was work? How was college life? Did he go out to parties? And so much more, but she didn't really have any kind of relationship with Ichigo anymore, so she had no right to ask.
"RUKIAA – CHAN!"
"Huh?" Rukia asked as she was snapped out of her thoughts.
"I asked if you wanted any breakfast." Yuzu stated.
"Oh, yeah…that would be nice. Thanks," answered Rukia.
"What were you thinking about anyways?" asked Karin.
"N – nothing," Rukia replied with a blush, she couldn't admit she was thinking about Ichigo. Meanwhile, Yuzu and Karin gave Rukia suspicious looks, but left it at that.
When the girls finished their breakfast they made their way to school. Once they were at school, they found out they were all in the same class, Karin however, was disappointed because Toushirou was in a different class.
Their second year of high school going along great, the girls would hangout after school and on the weekends they would do their own thing. It was practically like their first year of high school; the only difference was that Ichigo wasn't around. Yuzu would often say how much she missed him and how she wished he would visit more often, she would often tell him that when he called in the mornings. Karin and Rukia however, would not admit aloud how much they missed Ichigo.
It was the last week of school before winter break and all the students were rather excited. Rukia didn't seem too excited; she was just staring out the window as usual.
"Rukia – chan, ready for lunch? Karin – chan won't be joining us because she's having lunch with Hitsugaya – kun and his friends," informed Yuzu.
"Ah," replied Rukia without looking at Yuzu.
"Rukia – chan? Is something wrong?"
"No, I was just thinking about Renji."
"Oh, you must miss Abarai – kun."
"…Yeah," replied Rukia without emotion.
"Well, let's go the girls are waiting for us."
"Um, you can go ahead without me. I got some stuff to do," she lied.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'll just see you and Karin in class after lunch."
"Okay, and don't worry you will get to see Abarai – kun in a week," Yuzu said with a smile.
Rukia gave a fake smile and said, "You're right." Yuzu then left to join the rest of their friends.
A little while later Rukia found herself on the roof. She knew that no one would be up there because it was the middle of winter. She reached the cold metal bars and she could easily see the school fields. Rukia let out a deep breath and said, "Renji." Renji had been on her mind a lot lately. Maybe it was because recently there had been a lot of tension. Whenever the 2 talked over the phone or hung out, it would start out great, but quickly an insignificant argument would ensue, effectively ruining their good time. "What are we doing?" she asked aloud. Then it dawned on her what had to be done and with determination she went back to class, she knew what she had to do.
