Love or Like?

Summary: One day after school Ichigo Kurosaki wonders why anyone even bothers with love. Soon he meets two girls and he's asking himself why he's bothering with love. Jealously, secrets, drama, and fluff as these adolescents figure out the difference between love and like.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or its franchise, characters, etc.

(A/N): It's been a while, I'll have to apologize on my sole laziness. I had most of this chapter finished a long time ago but I become completely too lazy to finish it. So I decided to finally do it, and here it is. Its shorter than most of the chapters and I'll admit choppy, but I hope you guys like it. I had to really force myself to do it. Please review cause I love to here from you ^_-


Insomnia Epidemic

The sound of lockers opening and closing filled the air. It was the Karakura High School's boy's locker room, shortly before the start of the physical education class, and Ichigo Kurosaki was certainly not in the mood. He groaned unbuttoning his school uniform shirt. He had a lot on his mind lately, 'That fucking dream!' He wanted to hit something with full force right about now. Again he had no sleep, insomnia was not the best friend of a high school student; he was nearly falling asleep in class today. He did not need to be like Senna who was constantly drooling on her desk. Besides that there was still that guy he met on Saturday, Grimmijow. He did not know why but he could not find himself able to throw away that guy's number, in spite of the fact he recognized it was chancy to keep it. Inessential to say he was not in the mood for exercise; he perhaps was not even physically capable at this point. After changing the redhead sat leisurely on the bench, leaning his head alongside the metal of his gym locker.

"Hey Ichigo are you okay buddy?" the redhead turned over to see Keigo who was actually having one of those rare instants of not being annoying. Rather the brunette appeared to be concerned as he took a seat by his friend.

Ichigo rubbed his forehead, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure you're fine?" Keigo insisted and he began to scratch his hair, "Because you put your shirt on backwards."

"Aw shit," He shook his head before swiftly taking off his shirt to turn it and put it on the right way.

"You do seem very off lately Ichigo," Chad specified with his deep voice, Ichigo looked over his right shoulder wondering when giant had joined them.

"You haven't been sleeping lately have you Ichigo?" Mizuiro joined in, tapping his chin inquisitively, "I mean I guessed that because you have those black rings under your eyes."

"Yeah well something like that," the redhead stretched a bit attempting to awaken his muscles, "I've been having a nasty fit of insomnia."

"No kidding dude," Keigo cut in, "I mean today when I was staring at the lovely Rukia Kuchiki, I noticed you kept closing your eyes and then you'd shake your head and open them again."

"Seems to be an epidemic," Mizuiro commented, "I mean have you seen Senna? That girl can sleep through anything. Orihime Inoue looks like she has the same eyes as you. Other than that Rukia seemed a bit languid today, which is very unlike her."

Ichigo nodded in agreement, Rukia was unquestionably off today. In the morning she was usually always in character, in that peppy character that is. However, today she did not bother with the voice, the cute poses, or smiles.

"Good morning Rukia!" Keigo's voice rang in adoration as he danced around the petite girl who had entered the class room.

She had her head down, a bit solemn but overall rather disinterested and guarded. She sighed answering as if it were forced upon her to, "Good morning." She walked past the adolescent to her seat, sitting down suddenly. She slowly took her books out her bag, setting them neatly against the top of her desk. She sat there rather straight, nearly robotic; staring at the front of the class blankly.

Ichigo turned to his desk neighbor, raising an inquisitive brow, "What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," Rukia answered as though she were attempting to evade a conversation, "I'm just really tired is all."

Orihime yawned after changing for gym class and began to thoroughly rub her eyes. Lately it seemed she spent more time crying than actually sleeping. Beneath her pair of attractive gray eyes were rather puffy and red. She was having a difficulty staying focus in the first couple of periods, which she could not allow herself to do, she needed to keep her grades high.

"Orihime you know I would never say this but you look terrible today." She opened her grey eyes to Chizuru's voice. She smiled cutely and began chuckling. "It's not funny! You look like you haven't had a decent night's sleep in days!"

"Stop being so obnoxious Chizuru," Tatsuki cut in, "What is up with you Orihime, you look exhausted. I thought we were going to go to the fair today because it's the opening and tomorrow's the weekend. Maybe you should sleep instead and we can go tomorrow? I know every year you like to go on the opening day but I don't think it'd be good for you."

"Oh…its today," the redhead replied solemnly looking down, "I forgot."

"You forgot?" Tatsuki asked in shock. She stared at her redheaded best friend; Orihime never forgot things like that. It's true lately she had been quite reserved and not as cheery as usual. "Is there something wrong?"

The buxom teen shook her head but did not raise her head, "I'm sorry Tatsuki, it's just I forgot about the fair and I've been taking up longer shifts at the bakery, I'm closing tonight and even though we don't stay open very late I'll be exhausted."

"Oh," the dark haired girl responded dejectedly. When was it that she was the one so excited to do stuff like this? She smiled brightly at her friend, "That's okay we can go tomorrow then right?"

"I'm working all day tomorrow," she told her.

"Oh, are you?" Tatsuki bit her lip, was Orihime trying to avoid her? "What about Sunday then?"

"I'm working all day on Sunday too. I'm sorry Tatsuki."

"Uh, okay, then, its fine Orihime," Tatsuki masked her disappointment with an assuring smiling as she rubbed the back of her head, "But…why are you working so much, do you need the money that desperately?"

"No…it's not that," Orihime responded.

"What's up with you today? You look deader than a zombie," It was Senna who leaned against the wall across from the other Kuchiki.

The petite girl in question was sitting on a bench. She sighed before tying the laces on her shoes, "its fine I did not much sleep last night."

"Was it-"

"Yeah," Rukia replied in a tired voice. She looked down for a bit before she put out a sterner expression, "besides you shouldn't be worrying about me, you've been sleeping throughout all of our classes for the past week. How do you even absorb any information at all?"

Senna smiled cutely tilting her head to the side a bit, "Shuuhei."

"That poor boy," the blue eyed girl smiled smugly, "He has to teach you everything because you don't pick anything up at all during school."

"Well, he's so good at explaining stuff I get it right off the back," she replied thoughtfully, "How's Ichigo as a tutor anyway since you guys been spending ssssoooo much time together."

Rukia grimaced, "Don't imply something so far from the truth. In any case Ichigo's a pretty good tutor, he even gives me tricks to remember things that I find tricky, so far I'm getting along."

"Ooooo," The taller girl replied slyly.

"Oh would you just quite!" Rukia replied in defense.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Senna fanned off with her hand, "Don't have to get so offended. I'm going to get some water 'kay."

Rukia leaned her head against the locker, 'Why Kaien?'

A couple minutes later the students had gathered outside at the school's grass covered fields. The sun's blaze from above was light; clouds filled the sky azure depths. The weather was cooling down; soon light coats would be needed. For now the limbo between summer and fall sat comfortably as the norm.

Mr. Kagine, who was also the physical education teacher stood in front of the group of students with his arms crossed. "Okay everyone, listen up. Today I've decided I want see you act like dogs."

"What kind of way is that of talking to your students?" the male voice came from the left side of the group. The older man narrowed his eyes at the adolescent.

"Mr. Asano don't interrupt me. As I was saying, we're going to do a relay race before running the mile." Groans were heard amongst the crowds.

"What makes you think we're going to try on a relay race if you're going to make us run a freaking mile afterwards?" Keigo interposed once more.

The dark haired teacher smirked, "Why I'm glad you asked that…for once Mr. Asano. The winning pair will be able to sit out during the mile today. Considering the relay is only half a mile and that means each person will only run a quarter of a mile."

Several heads shot up with this idea in mind. Ichigo who usually did not care much for the class suddenly was paying full attention, 'Hell yeah no way I could run a mile in this condition…but who to choose as my partner…Hisagi?'

'What? Okay I need to win this, no fair at all! He's going to make me run a relay, a mile, and during practice after school. I don't think so; Senna Kuchiki is no one's toy!'

'I'm not an athlete, I didn't sleep, and my legs aren't built for running! You bastard!' Rukia thought to herself narrowing her blue eyes.

"Cool! I call Hisagi!" Keigo cheered jumping up and down; Mr. Kagine hit the boy's head hard on the back of his clipboard.

"Shut up Mr. Asano, did you honestly think I'd give you a choice of a partner?" He asked, though the question seemed to be directed towards everyone in general. He placed the clipboard down which contained a printed chart, "Okay I randomly assigned you partners on the computer. Since this class is even in number of males and females I've partner you up with the opposite sex. It makes the race fairer."

"Tch whatever," Ichigo sighed under his breath. He looked around at the girl's in the class, 'I pray to god I'm matched up with someone like Ryo or Tatsuki.' He walked over to the clipboard that was crowded around as the students peered at the partners. Ichigo was about to look when some girl snatched the entire clipboard. "Hey!" He scolded roughly, his scowl became deeper, "I was looking at that you brat,"

The girl threw the orange haired boy an evil glare. She was average height, and on the slender side, what he noticed the most was her long plum colored pigtails. Honestly how did he not notice someone this ridiculous looking before in his class? "I can't see! Okay we don't all have twenty-twenty vision."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, "What the- why don't you put on some glasses or contacts or something, stop hogging that clipboard!"

She hugged the brown board to her pert chest, "How could I put on ugly glasses when I have these gorgeous eyes, plus contacts are too irritating."

"Whatever," the redhead rolled his hazel eyes which were equipped with decent vision; he snatched the board out of her hand. He followed his finger down till he located his name, then he looked of the right where the girl's name was, "Uh…Riruka Dokugamine? I've never even heard of her."

"That's me you jerk!" the girl folded her arms. 'Great,' Ichigo thought irritated, 'looks like I'm running the mile.'

"Well then Ichigo Kurosaki," she spoke, in a split second she was about two inches away from his face, looking at him intently. Her brown eyes went wide for a second; she quickly backed away from him, blushing intently with her hands balled up.

Ichigo gave her a blank stare, not knowing how to react to that, "Are you okay?"

'Damn he's hot!' Riruka thought to herself. She never got a good look at the guy's face, considering she was borderline blind. Plus she sat in the back of the class room, the only reason she could distinctly identify Ichigo Kurosaki was because of that hair of his, who'd of think he'd be so attractive. Why were the girls afraid of him again?

"Hey Ichigo," the pair turned to see the petite Rukia Kuchiki, "oh Riruka, are you two partners."

The redhead rolled his eyes, "Yeah, so it seems like I'm going to have to run my ass off just so to win."

"Excuse me!" Riruka replied heatedly, was he just insulting her like it was nothing.

"Hey relax, I was just being honest. You don't look athletic," Ichigo folded his arms, "Besides at least you're not short like this one, whoever is paired up with her pretty much knows they'll lose."

Rukia smacked his back…hard, sending him in a fit of coughs, "Don't belittle me."

"Whatever, what are you doing here anyway, who the hell are you paired up with?"

"I'd rather not discuss it," Rukia replied in shudders.

"OH RUKIA!" Ichigo threw his head back in laughs as he heard Keigo's shout from the distance.

"Orihime," the redhead turned around to face an ebony haired boy who had called her name. He pushed up his glasses, "It appears as though you and I are partners."

"Oh that's great Ishida!" the curvaceous teen clasped her hands together; "I know I don't look like it but I'm actually quite athletic. Okay maybe not a runner, but I'm good at martial arts. Tatsuki said I was at a black belt level in karate, that's supposed to be good, right?"

The bespectacled boy blushed lightly and smiled shortly before resorting back to his usual expressionless face, "You seem a bit fatigued today."

Orihime grabbed the bags under her eyes in an attempt to shield them; everyone seemed to be noticing them today. "Oh you noticed that? I just didn't sleep too much last night, I've been busy."

Uryu nodded, "You didn't come to the handicrafts club last week at all, is there something the matter?"

"Oh um nothing really, my shifts have just changed at work so I don't have time for a club activity right now," she assured him, "you don't have to worry about me!"

"Hey Ryo," Hisagi began walking towards his partner, "Looks like we're paired up."

"Don't talk to me," She glared at her fellow classmate, walking passed him with the cold shoulder.

Hisagi grabbed her arm, causing her turn to look at him, "Why are you so cold lately?"

The tall girl remained expressionless and shook her arm out of his grasp, "Do you even have to ask?"

Senna stared at this a few feet away, there was something more than met the eye between those two.

"Hey Senna you probably want to get over to the halfway mark of the relay," Mizuiro spoke, shaking her out of her trance. She turned and smiled at him.

"Right, sorry I'm so spacey," she giggled nervously.

"You don't really want to be my partner, do you Senna?"

"Huh? What? No, it's just a stupid race; with my luck it wouldn't matter I'd end up running the mile anyway."

"No, I meant, you'd rather be with Hisagi."

"I'm going to go now then!"

"That girl." The short boy shook his head with a sigh.

Ichigo sighed and leaned against the concrete outer wall of the school. He was so fatigued today that he could not even look at food; all he wanted to do was rest. But he did not dare to sleep, for falling into a slumber would inevitably lead to another nightmare. Rest but not fall asleep, it was not a difficult concept to conceive, though proved quite difficult to follow through upon, considering the body needs sleep to function. He sighed and downed about half of his water bottle at one time. It was only lunch period and sitting here on the rooftop was a good way to calm his nerves, especially since the other three were currently busy getting lunch. He turned to the right to the petite girl that sat next to him.

He cleared his throat to allow him to speak, "So why are you here?"

She did not turn to him, merely sighing in acknowledgement, "I felt I should eat lunch with you guys today."

"Hmm, and what about your boyfriend Renji?" the redhead mocked her, earning a smack across the head.

"Don't even start with me today, I have much less patience than usual," Rukia replied coldly. She began to rummage through her bag.

Ichigo rubbed his head tenderly, "Yeah, okay but I never remembered you having much patience to begin with."

"Please don't start with me," she tossed an apple juice box at the boy, "I'm not in the mood for futile bickering. Can you open that please? "

The redhead nearly laughed, she was so childish sometimes, can't even open a juice box. On the serious note her uneasiness today was causing him a bit of concern. After opening her juice box he gently placed it into her hand, their fingers brushing lightly against each other, this physical contact caused Rukia to look up at him with her dark blue eyes. "You know, you're really off today…did something happen Rukia?"

Why did the gentleness of his voice send shivers down her spine? Her expression softened, "I just had a bad dream last night is all." She began to sip the sweet liquid, "Mm, it tastes good. Anyway Ichigo I was meaning to ask you something today."

"Okay, what is that?" His brown eyes were staring at her, at her soft lips which she licked with that small tongue after taking a sip. Her profile view never ceased to amaze him; he savored the way her hair fell lightly along her small shoulders and neck. Which were a beautiful pale color, though now covered in the horrid grey that was the school uniform. He decided to take another sip of water as he felt his lips dry.

"Are you free this evening? Do you want to go to the carnival with me?" she asked casually, looking at the boy from the corner of her eye.

Her words rang into his ears and he spit out the water he was downing. What was that again? That sounded like she was asking him out on a date. He blushed profusely turned to her, responding in a high voice, "What? W-What are you saying?"

"Oh…is that a no then?" she asked looking down a bit, this action caused his face to lighten up to a pink tint, "It's just Renji asked me to go with him today…and I like Renji and all, but it sounded kind of like a date. And I know a lot of people have been saying, you included, that he has a thing for me. I can't really say no to Renji but I don't want to give him the wrong impression so I thought if I brought you along there wouldn't be any misunderstanding."

'Oh, that's it. Of course, what were you thinking you idiot? Of course she wouldn't ask you out, this is Rukia Kuchiki for crying out loud.' Ichigo began scratching the back of his orange locks, "Oh so that's what you meant, well then definitely, why not then? But why are you asking me this?"

Rukia gave him a surprised look, "What do you mean why I'm asking you? You are my closest friend here other than Renji of course; who else am I supposed to ask?"

"Senna, for one," Ichigo responded rather quickly, "I thought the three of you were all friends when you were little, why isn't he spending any time with her?"

"Oh," the petite girl looked down, "Well, honestly Renji and Senna aren't really all that close. They only knew one another for a year…so it can't be helped. Besides that she's busy tonight."

"Let me take a wild guess, Hisagi right?" The tall boy asked nearly rudely. "What the hell is up with those two? It's pretty weird if you ask me, does Senna even talk to anyone else anymore? She even skipped out lunch today with us for him."

"Well, it's not only the two of them, their going with a group of friends, to the movies," Rukia told him. "Rather Renji's group I guess. Hisagi is in that group with them. Uh…Hinamori, Matsumoto, Madarame, Ayasegawa, and Kira." She listed the group off on her slender fingers.

"She's going to get hurt you know?" Ichigo told her, his voice was more of a warning than anything else.

Rukia narrowed her indigo irises, "What makes you say that? Is it so hard to believe that someone would actually like Senna?"

"I wasn't saying that," Ichigo bit his lip and his eyes looked lost in thought, "But I know that Hisagi doesn't like her in that way."

She looked more confuse than anything right now, "What do you mean?"

"It's a look," the redhead replied, rubbing the back of his head as if he were a bit nervous, "A look, it's the way you look at a person you know? It's like…looking at someone as if they were the only person in the world. And we can agree that it seems that sometimes…most of the time Senna can't see anyone but Hisagi. But he…it's not like that for him at all. He smiles at her and he's nice to her and worries about her. But, he…to me he treats her more like a friend or a little sister than anything else."

"Ichigo," she spoke softly as she stared at him. He turned to look at her dumbfounded with a light blush on his cheeks. Rukia smiled and closed her eyes with a sigh. When she opened them she had a playful expression on her face and she folded her arms across her chest, "So what makes you an expert on this stuff? I thought you didn't know anything about liking a person. Are you going soft?"

"Hey shut up," Ichigo replied in his ragged voice making a fist. Naturally she'd always find a way to piss him off; on the other note at least she was finally acting like herself again.

"Oh I forgot," she put a hand in front of her mouth as if she were shocked, "You have that little secret crush now don't you? Who is she? She must be someone really special to make you go all mushy."

"Hey I said shut up!" the redhead continued to fury, Rukia sure knew how to rile him up. He could not believe she was actually giggling at him, "Besides it's none of your business to begin with!"

She pouted playfully, "Well I thought we were friends."

"You don't like explaining yourself 'friend' so I think I'm justified to do the same," he told her bitterly with a roll of those hazel eyes, "In any case you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

That last statement sparked a bit of curiosity in Rukia who spoke rather seriously this time, "What makes you say that?"

"Those lunch lines were horrendous today!" The two turned hearing the door open and Keigo's voice feel the air, both groaning out of the dismay. Mizuiro and Chad both followed suit of the brunette. He turned looking down seeing Ichigo and Rukia sitting rather close to one another, but chose to ignore this fact. He went over and embraced the petite girl, "RUKIA! You decided to join us again! I'd thought you'd be with that red haired senior forever!"

She offered a nervous chuckle, wishing she were able to get out of his tight embrace, "Well, Renji is my friend, but so are you guys. So I'll be eating lunch sometimes with him and sometimes with all of you."

"Hey guys!" Mizuiro greeted with a wave. He turned his attention to the redhead, "Dude you were really breaking wind today in physical Ed. You ran faster than Hisagi for the relay."

"Yeah, but I still loss because Kagine fixed that crap, gave me some girl with nothing but pigtails," Ichigo scoffed bitterly.

"What! Riruka Dokugamine is hot!" Keigo interrupted.

"Here he goes again," Mizuiro commented as Ichigo covered his ears as Keigo ranted about girls again.

Senna sat happily in a desolate classroom; the only people here were herself and Shuuhei. They had pushed to desks facing one another to eat lunch together. He had packed it for the both of them, and after eating his cooking on Saturday she was pretty much hooked.

Hisagi pulled out a container from his bag and two pairs of chopsticks. He handed her a pair of chopsticks which she took, and opened the container that was filled with rice and steamed vegetables: carrots, broccoli, and peppers. "Here, you should really eat you look frail and exhausted."

Senna smiled brightly at him, "I'm always tired, I don't know why, I haven't been sleeping at night but for some reason classes make me sleep like a baby, and I guess that makes lectures my lullaby."

The dark haired man sighed and picked up some rice with his chopsticks, "Well you should really stop it; it was cute when you first started doing it, but it's not good. You should pay attention in class."

Her head visibly dropped and she looked down, dejected, "Oh…sorry."

"Hey," his voice betokened for attention and she looked up a bit startled, "I said to you should eat you look like you've been losing weight, and you didn't have that much on to begin with."

"Oh," she replied again grabbing some food between her two chopsticks, "Actually I have a fast metabolism so all this exercise and healthy eating would be the cause of that."

"Maybe you should eat a little more," He told her.

She nodded but did not reply. Hisagi looked up at her, this unusual silence that was between them, it stirred an unnerving feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her head was down and she did not respond, her appetite was usually huge and yet she was barely eating at all today. "Do you not like the food or something?" He inquired finding her behavior peculiar.

"No…that's not it," she replied miserably again, "You're food is always delicious."

He stared at her, trying to discern what was going through her head with little avail. Naturally it was not easy to determine her thoughts when her head was down like that, "Did I do something?"

"No," she sighed pitifully.

That's when he decided to cup her face to get her attention, "I really hate when people can't look at me when I'm talking to them. What did I do?"

Senna looked up at him with such a mixed expression. Her eyes were a mix of melancholy, confusion, and even a hint of disdain. She bit her lip in a frown, that look only proved to him that he had no idea what was rushing through the raven haired girl's head. "I-I…uh," she sighed, she wasn't going to finish that sentence.

Yep, he had no idea what was up with her, but still he found something about her so captivating. And although he could not read the expressions in the depths of her eyes, he could not look away from them. The shape was cat-like, a mysterious and frisky playfulness in them. Her eyes were so large and captivating and lashes that were teasingly long and thick, but the color. Yes that indistinguishable color, amber is what he settled with, but there were hints of hazel and near yellow that blurred into amber color. 'Stunning,' he thought to himself as he as his thumb traced around the shape of her eye, 'I wish I could understand you a little more, why do I have to be drawn to you? Why do you have to captivate me? I cannot comprehend any of your actions, is that smile you wear so often a front or sincere, because it feels like neither one. I only know one thing about you and that is that you wear your heart on your sleeve. The way she looks at me, I already know your feelings, you don't have say a single word of a confession for me to know. And yet I nurture you when I should be pushing you away, am I destined to hurt you?'

"Hisagi I've been looking all over for you," The two turned their attention from one another to the door of the classroom. There was a blonde student that was entering. Senna remembered that guy; he was with Renji that day in the diner. 'Izuru Kira? That's his name right?' she thought to herself.

"Hey Kira did you need something," Hisagi smirked letting go of Senna's face now and leaning against his chair.

"Actually," he began a big anxiously as he looked down a bit and rubbed the back of his head, "now try not to be upset with me when I say this…but do you remember that article I was writing for the school newspaper about the science club."

"Oh yeah," Hisagi replied casually, "Did you send it late last night, cause I wasn't able to check my e-mail this morning so I haven't had time to edit it yet."

"U-um….right," Izuru gulped, "You see the thing is…I didn't really get the time to finish it yet."

Hisagi spit out his ice tea after hearing the blonde's words. Senna's eyes grew when she saw him do that, really it was something straight out of a cartoon. "Izuru! What do you mean you didn't finish it? That was assigned a week ago!"

"I know, I know," he tried calming his friend, "But I've been kind of loaded…I mean keeping up my grades to maintain my valedictorian position is hard enough and now with university to worry about…I've been hit with a slight case of senioritis. I'll finish it today, I promise."

"You better," Hisagi sighed getting up from his seat, "Please don't make me the bad guy here Kira, but if that article isn't done Tosen's going to be on my ass not yours. And you know I have to have all of it e-mailed to him by noon tomorrow, so I expect that article from you no later than midnight."

"Thanks Hisagi, you're always so understanding," Kira let out a sigh of relief as his friend walked passed him, "Uh where are you going?"

"Restroom," He replied.

The blue eyed boy stared off a bewildered for a second at his friend, but quickly shook off whatever thoughts were running through his mind. He turned to the petite girl who was looking bored, "Hey Senna- uh you remember me right?"

"Uh yeah, you're Renji's friend," She replied with a smile.

He took the seat Hisagi had previously possessed and opened his mouth to speak, "Kira, Izuru Kira. We've met before."

"Yes I realize that," she replied seriously.

The blonde nearly laughed from her reply, "I meant before that, when we were little. Right, you were one of the girls with Renji. I remember you, your hair was a lot shorter back than but your eyes give you away."

"U-OH," she spoke in revelation, "You're that blonde kid, right now I remember Kira family duh."

A black and white blur soared through the air, barely above the shimmering green of the grass. Entering with a clean swish only stopped by the white ropes that weaved into one another. The girl stared at the ball as it fell quietly to the grass, she sighed and her brown eyes just stared at the net as she stood in place. It was lunch period and though she knew she should eat she was not feeling like it at the current moment.

"Nice shot Arisawa!" Her eyes grew in shock hearing that familiar voice from behind her; she did not figure someone else would be at the fields at this time. She turned to see the owner of the voice jogging over to her.

"Uh thanks," she rubbed the back of her neck, mostly startled she was lost in thought so his voice was a definite call of surprise.

"Huh? Where are your manners? Is that anyway to talk to your beloved sempai?" asked the male arrogantly with an obnoxious smirk and tone to match.

"Yes Renji you're my 'beloved sempai'" the sarcasm was evident as dark haired girl raised an eyebrow in disdain.

"So what are you practicing so hard for?" asked the red haired senior, "Aren't you already one of the top female players at this school? Besides I thought karate was your preference."

The girl sighed and planted herself down onto the field. "Right," she said looking up at the sky, Renji knelt down next to the girl. She blew a bang from her face, "I was just thinking."

"Can't you do that and eat at the same time, it's not that hard," He pointed out in a matter-of-fact manner.

Tatsuki narrowed her eyes at him, "Shut up idiot, that's not what I meant."

"Oh now I'm an idiot," Renji replied mockingly, "compare my marks with yours and we'll decide who the idiot is."

She smacked her head with the palm of her head, why couldn't this guy just understand, "Look you're obnoxiousness is making me not able to concentrate."

"Hmm," He replied, "If it's something that troublesome why don't you talk to your friend about it. The redheaded girl, right that's what friends are for?"

Her brown eyes become sterner with his last sentence, "I would, but it's her that's making me feel this way."

"You two have a falling out or something?" He seemed concerned. Something that seemed to surprise Tatsuki, his voice was softer and he wasn't trying to mock her or say something cocky like usual.

She blushed lightly but looked down instead of at him, "It's…It's just that every year we go to the opening of the carnival together. But instead she has to work, I'm not trying to be selfish here…but she seems quite distanced lately, working more hours than ever before. Plus she won't tell me what's wrong…I thought we were best friends."

"Sometimes people need personal time and space, maybe it's something she doesn't want to worry you about Arisawa. As a friend you have to be there whenever your friend needs you, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will always want to confide in you." He patted her back but the girl's expression did not alter. "Look why don't you just come to the carnival with me today, it would be a good way to get your mind off of things and I'm already going with Rukia."

Tatsuki turned to face the upperclassman, "No, I can't impose on that. I mean you guys are close friends right?"

"Its fine," he sighed looking up at the sky, "She already ruined it, she texted me not to long ago that she was dragging along that Kurosaki kid."

"Those two are always together," Tatsuki rolled her eyes as she spoke roughly.

"Tch," Renji replied still gazing, "No kidding. So you coming or what Arisawa?"

'Hmm,' Tatsuki gave a sly smile and looked up at the sky as well, "Sure why not?"

The school bells rang and Ichigo found today particularly nice to walk home. There was hardly much drama, no thugs looking for a fight, no Keigo insisting on walking home with him, nothing. Ichigo let out a sigh and fished out the small paper card he had received during the weekend. He put it back into his pocket, 'I definitely don't need this…I don't…I really, really don't.' He shook his head and whispered, "So why am I trying so hard to convince myself?" He looked down as he began to open the front door of his home. He took a step inside only to be sent back flying onto the concrete pathway. He got up quickly already knowing the perpetrator before he looked, "DAD! What the hell was that for?"

Isshin stood proudly on the other side of the door with his hands on his hips and a goofy smirk on his scruffy face, "You need to be alert, and what if I was a burglar?"

"Shut up Old Man, it's normal not to think about bumping into the burglar on the other side of your front door," Ichigo sighed walking passed his father apathetically, "I'm not in the mood so why don't you just go mess with Karin or Yuzu?"

"What?" Isshin turned to his son who was taking off his shoes, "How could you think I'd treat your sisters the way I treat you? Don't you know a female is a delicate creature? How do you expect to make me a grandparent without keeping that thought in mind?"

"Tch, whatever," the redhead rolled his eyes at his father. "Just go talk to them or something then."

"I can't," Isshin spoke a bit too loudly, "They went out to the carnival with their friends."

"Oh is that so," Ichigo said making his way up the stairs, "Well I'll be meeting some people there in a couple hours too, so I guess you're alone then."

Isshin raised an eyebrow at his son's diminishing form, "Someone is not in a good mood." He heard a meow from his side. The elder Kurosaki glanced down at the orange cat who was sitting at his side, "See even you agree with me." The cat meowed once more, "I guess it's just you and me huh?"

"Good afternoon Nozomi," Orihime smiled brightly at her college co-worker. She had just arrived to the shop dressed in her school uniform, "I'm going to go change in the back, has my shift started?"

"It starts in ten," the girl replied in a bored tone. Her hair was in a pixie cut and she was dressed in the shops uniform. The redheaded teen nodded, knowing her co-worker was not much of a talker, "Oh and Inoue, Ms. Unagiya said some mail came in for you."

"Huh?" Orihime gave a confused glance, "Something…for me? But why would someone send it to the shop?"

Nozomi shrugged her shoulders and she began to frost a cupcake, "I don't know."

The redhead walked into the locker room and sure enough on the top of her locker was a fairly large white box with a red bow. She reached for it, and found it to be fairly light. She bit her lip, wondering if she should open it or not. It was weird, she always had admirers, there were always guys that would ogle but thanks to Tatsuki and school and Ms. Unagiya at work no one really ever touched she…but she never considered she get a gift from someone. At school there were confession notes, but never a gift. "Should I even open it?"


(A/N): Thank you my ever so loving loyal reviewers: diggix, Aprilup, Chappy-Is-Mine, alero1990, LAWLS117, 2coolforyou, and Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius. And veryone else for reading naturally. I'll sorry if this chapter is really all over the place, maybe not so satisfying? Idk, I just hope you guys keep up with the story because it is my favorite out all the ones I've written on Ichiruki. Leave another review too :D

-Spidergoth ^_-