I have nothing witty to say at this hour so I'll just thank my two awesome fabulous beta readers, Thail and Setsuken/Hassan and also my two dear test readers, Amar and copper. You four are too awesome. TOO awesome!

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach. Wish I did. Then Orihime and Ichigo would be canon since WAY long ago~ And I don't own all the references I made in this chapter either!

FRAKKING HELL D: Over 160 reviews! I never thought I'd be able to get that many reviews, EVER! D: I am bowled over completely! Thanks you all SO much!

Edit: ACK! SO . MANY. MISTAKES in this chapter *rushes to fix*

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~ C h a p t e r 1 1~

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Ichigo fuzzily wondered who Renji was talking too as sleep clouded his muddled brain. He raised his hand up to his head, touching the cool, wet towel before attempted to sit up. Almost immediately he was hit with a dizzy spell that had him falling back on his hot pillow with a groan.

If there was one thing that Kurosaki Ichigo hated (even more than his privacy being invaded by nitwit friends) it was being sick with a cold and fever. He hated the accompanying weakness, the constant fuzzy headedness, the irritated throat, the harsh coughing and most of all, the way it made him weak and dependent on others.

He placed the wet towel back on his forehead, sighing as he realized that it was quickly becoming warm thanks to his fever. He closed his eyes and let the conversation from outside drift over his head, half listening to his roommate's brusque voice as he instructed the other person. "The medicines are by the bed side table. He's gotta take the fever medicine again in another…hour but you gotta give him something to eat before that. Congee would be best but don't give him any pickled radishes with it, he hates that."

Sleepily Ichigo wondered who Renji, 'Who is he telling all this too?' Part of him felt guilty that he had wound up with a fever promptly after handing in his final mid-term exam and had to be taken care of by Renji. The long haired man had broken off plans already made with Rukia in order to take care of his roommate. 'Maybe Rukia?' he pondered as a soft, inaudible murmuring slipped in from the slightly open door.

Renji's familiar voice again came up, this time it sounded farther away from the door, "Na no need. I just wiped him down with a towel and changed his clothes so he should be good for the night. Also…"

Ichigo raised his dark blanket and blearily glanced down at his white tee, 'Huh…that's weird…I don't remember Renji helping me change…this fevers really got me out for a loop.' Ichigo reached out for the tissue box, plucking the soft material out and blowing his nose in an attempt to clear his sinuses. He coughed harshly, tossing the used tissue beside his pillow. 'Ah jeez, I can take the damn fever but why the damn sore throat? I wish someone would just knock me out cause if I swallow one more time and feel that irritatin-'

The door to his bedroom slowly opened, shaking him out of his half-conscious state that he hadn't realized he had slipped into. The strip of light widened, making him squint as he turned to face the door, wondering who it was. "Renji? S' that you?" Ichigo coughed again, hating the way his voice sounded more like a croak than anything else.

"Are you awake Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo flinched as the light was turned on and he blinked before turning to face the highly familiar voice that came to sit beside his low bed. "Inoue…What…?" Her hands went up to the towel on his forehead, dipping it in the shallow bowl placed on his bedside table as she replied back in her soft voice, "I offered to look after you for a few hours so that Renji-kun could meet up with Rukia-chan." Ichigo muddled mind wondered, 'Since when did those two become Renji-kun and Rukia-chan?'

He watched as she wrung the cloth out, holding it in one hand as she gently brushed his bangs off his forehead. He closed his eyes at the feathery touch, enjoying the feel of her cool fingertips on his forehead. He let out a small sigh of relief as she placed the cool towel on his forehead, 'Oh that feels good…'

Her fingers ran over the cool cloth once before dropped down to her side as she asked in a gentle tone, "Do you feel well enough to eat anything?" If he was completely honest, the thought of having to shovel food down his gullet sounded as appealing as chewing on a cactus on a regular day but instead he stared blearily at the blue alarm clock on his bed side, "S' time for the medicine already?"

He pushed the wet cloth of his forehead as he put his weight on his elbows, raising himself up. Orihime moved forward to help him sit up as he raised himself up into a sitting position. She arranged the pillow behind him, pulling the blanket over his lap before she placed the small tray over his lap. Ichigo blinked in surprise at the rice gruel, ginger tea, apple and dried plums sitting innocently enough on the dark tray. He pointed weakly at the porridge and asked, "You made this?"

She nodded, her expression showing her nervousness as she replied, "I asked Tatsuki-chan's mother for help because I've never made congee before." 'Which means that its just normal gruel. Thank God. Then again, my taste buds are shot to hell so she could slip dirt in here and I wouldn't be able to catch it.'

Ichigo picked up the deep spoon before eyeing the deep dish before him, suddenly noticing the slightly singed edges of the dish. He stared at the burnt edges of the porridge before glancing up at her. She blushed and raised a hand up behind her head as she let out a self-conscious laugh, "ehehe, I think I over cooked it a little to be honest."

Ichigo spooned some of the gruel into the spoon, blowing over the hot food before tentatively popping it into his mouth. As he swallowed, Orihime timidly asked, "How is it?" Ichigo turned to see her tightly fisting his bed sheet underneath her hands as her wide eyes were looking up at him. He nodded in approval, "It's good."

As he moved to take another spoonful, this time picking up some of the burnt part, Orihime peered at him dubiously. "Really?"

Ichigo was blowing on the second spoonful as he gave her as dry a look as he could manage, "I don't lie y' know." Under her watchful gaze, he finished the small amount of porridge she had made before devouring the dried plums. But at the apple, he had stopped and stared at the fruit for a long moment before asking, "What's this?"

She picked up the second spoon, cutting into the soft flesh of the fruit as she replied, "Apple boiled in ginger tea with honey. It helps sooth sore throats. Onii-chan always makes this for me when I catch a cold. Hai…." Ichigo stared at the spoon hovering before his lips before leaning forward to take the sweet fruit offered. He had to admit, the honey really did have an immediate soothing effect on his throat.

She handed over the spoon with a smile as he gestured for it, finishing the apple with a gusto that surprised her given his current state. She took out his medicine, pouring some water into the nearby glass as he placed the spoon back into the now empty plate and let out a content sigh. He gave a disgruntled look at the tablet in her hand, "Here you go, Kurosaki-kun."

He took the proffered medicine and water before quickly swallowing the tablet, nearly finishing the water in the glass before slamming it down on the tray. Orihime stared at his dark countenance before asking gingerly, "You don't like taking tablets?"

Ichigo glared at the medicine resting his bedside table, "Yeah. I hate it when it gets stuck in the back of my throat and it happens every fucking time." He grimaced at his slip before muttering a quick apology. "Sorry. Didn't mean to curse like that." Orihime shook her hand, "Oh no its alright! It's a part of who you are. I'll take that..."

Ichigo stared at her as she stood up and plucked the tray out of his lap and went out the room. 'How did I wind up with a girl like her?' He could make out the faint sounds of cutlery clinking together as she most likely placed the dirty dishes in the wash basin. 'What does a girl like her see in a guy like me?' Ichigo wondered as he heard her soft footsteps grow louder before she stepped back into the room. "I think you should lie down Kurosaki-kun. The more you sleep the quicker you can get well."

He didn't put up any argument as she pushed him down on the bed, straightening the pillow underneath his head and the blanket over him as he just stared at her as she went about her task. 'She's so sweet and…just…so…kind and innocent. What the hell does she see in me?' "Yosh! You're set for some good snooze's now! All you have to do now is to call the Sandman so that he can send you off to dreamland!"

'She cares so much for people. She cares more for her friends and family than anyone else I know…' She was getting up now, moving away from his bedside. A sudden sense of impending loss had Ichigo move his hand out from under his blanket and reach out to grasp her wrist. He wound up catching her fingers between his fevered hands.

He stared up at her, tongued tied as she gave him a bewildered and curious glance. He tugged at her hand, pulling her closer to him as he managed to spit out, "Stay."

Her eyes softened, a gentle look in those big gray eyes as she returned to her seat beside his bed. 'She's smart and okay, a bit of a klutz. And a big space case at times but…her heart is bigger than anyone else I've known in my whole life.' He threaded his fingers through hers, tightly holding her small hand against his as she sat down on the floor. 'So how come she's here with me?'

"You shouldn't have come y' know."

A slightly hurt look flashed in her eyes as she asked, "I shouldn't have?"

He turned his face around to cough before stating, "You'll catch my cold."

Orihime felt a small, comforting pool of heat form in her chest and spread as she stared down at Ichigo as he coughed into his pillow. 'Even when he's ill, he's still thinking of me and my well being.' The thought that he was still looking out for her, made her feel embarrassed and elated at the same time.

She let out a nervous laugh, her hand twitching nervously underneath his as she rambled, "Oh no no. I-its alright really! I n-never a catch a cold! I even tried to but I couldn't catch one! E-even when I would go out in the middle of January with just one coat on!" She raised her hand up, waving it as she stammered, "And it's the least I could do being your…your…" She looked down at the ground before mumbling, "girlfriend."

Ichigo watched as she suddenly raised her head, her eyes reflecting her seriousness as she suddenly changed the topic and went at it al full speed, "I-I-In any case! I have to make sure that the monsters don't get you! Did you know Kurosaki-kun that there are all kinds of monsters out there and not just under your bed? They have monthly targets to meet on the people to scare and which to take away and a lot of them wait for kids to get sick so that they can take them away!"

She waggled a finger at the space under his bed before she looked back up at him, "So I'm here to take counter measures against those sneaky four eyed, five footed monsters so that they won't take you away!"

She looked up at him, wondering if how he had taken her nervous rambling. He was looking at her steadily, a slow relaxing smile on his lips as he watched her. He wondered if the slight ache in his chest as a result of the food he had eaten or at her words. He cleared his throat and rolled over, letting go of her hand as he mumbled, "Sorry…Need t' sleep."

"Ah hai. I'll go do the dishes." She stood up, smoothing out the wrinkled on her dress as she straightened up. "Please call me if you need anything." The only response she got was a sleepy affirmative as she closed the lights and moved into the kitchen.

As quietly as she could manage, she cleaned up the used dishes. As she was drying clean the last plate, her eyes fell on the grocery bag resting on the counter. 'Ah! I forgot the energy drink!' She pulled out the small dark colored bottle before tip toeing over into his room. Part of her felt utterly scandalized that she was alone with her boyfriend in his apartment but another part of her was utterly delighted at the prospect of nursing her boyfriend back to health.

She slowly pulled the door open, peeking into the door as she asked quietly, "Kurosaki-kun?" The huddled up figure didn't budge even a centimeter as she slipped into the room and sneaked over to his side. He was facing away from the door, bed sheets tangled up around his chest as he snoozed away. She gingerly placed her hand over his forehead, inwardly praying with her all her might that he wouldn't wake up at her touch, 'His forehead is still so hot.'

She dipped her hand into the shallow water basin, 'I should put in more ice…this water is already warm.' She picked up the bowl before leaving the room to return to the kitchen. She poured out the used water before filling it up with fresh tap water. She opened the fridge, peeking into the freezer compartment and wondering, 'Where are the ice cube tra….Ah there they are.'

She pulled out one tray and was happy to see that they were solid blocks of ice instead of half-water and half-ice. Closing the compartment, she quickly removed the ice from its container before dropping them into the water. She slipped the empty container to the side before picked up the basin again and returned to Ichigo's room.

As she placed the water basin on the small bed side table, Ichigo turned over on his back, making Orihime jump back in surprise. She was ready to launch into a string of apologies and explanations in case she had woken him up but instead, he slept on. She placed a hand on her face and let out a relieved sigh. 'Calm down Orihime! No need to be so jittery and nervous over every little thing!'

She knelt beside his bed, picking up the damp terrycloth towel before dipping it into the cold water. She let the cloth soak the cold water thoroughly before taking it out and wringing it out. She couldn't help the small giggle that came out as she realized that he was scowling even in his sleep. 'Kurosaki-kun is so cute when he scowls!'

A tad guiltily, she let her wet fingertips trace his scowling forehead. Her fingers going over his furrowed brows and scowls lines before they faded away underneath her feathery touch. As a small sigh came out from his lips, she hurriedly placed the cold towel on his forehead as a dark blush came over her cheeks. A small incoherent murmur left his lips before he pulled the blankets over his face. Orihime blinked in surprise before making sure that the towel was still in place on his forehead.

She sat back down on her haunches, staring at his sleeping form for a few moments before her gaze drifted away to take in his room. It was not as she had imagined it would be. She had imagined that his room would be filled with stacks of books (Ichigo had confessed to having a soft spot for literature, particularly works by Matsuo Bashou, Usami Akihiko and Shakespeare), there would be posters of rock bands on the walls (she had tugged at the ear plug wire, asking him to turn the volume down lest he should ruin his ears but he had merely pushed the ear plug into her ear with a grin and a "But you can't listen to songs like this on low volume". She had granted him that fact but didn't find herself very fond of Detroit Metal City) and she had expected the room to be a bit of a cluttered mess.

Instead there were no posters of any kind on the walls. Across from the bed were two big bookshelves, almost over flowing with books. Adjacent to the bookshelves was a study table, littered with books and paper and on space above, was a board with pictures and notes tacked up on it. She glanced down once more at Ichigo before quietly getting up and walking over to the board.

She squinted at the board, unable to clearly make out the faces or the notes. 'Ah! My cell phone!' Her hands dove into the pockets of her short denim jacket, 'Did I leave it in my bag? I think I-ah!' she triumphantly pulled her cell phone out, striking a victory pose before nervously sneaking another peek at the slumbering figure. She sighed in relief that he hadn't seen her silliness before flipping the phone open and turning the camera's flash on.

The harsh white light reflected back many faces and hastily scribbled notes. Her eyes darted from one picture to another, her gaze earnest and hungry as she sought to learn more about her boyfriend. Many of the faces she could recognize. 'Ah, that's Renji-kun and Shuuhei-kun! Waaaa~ they look so young in this picture! Wow...they both got their tattoos back in highschool! Oh is that Rukia-chan? She looks so good in that uniform. Isn't that the uniform for Kouyouen Private Academy?! Uwa, how intimidating. Oh this must be Kurosaki-kun's family!'

She shifted her cell phone so that its light was falling on the family photograph, 'These must be his little sister's that he talked about. Is that…his father? I wonder how he got smashed face first into the wall like that…' She tilted her head slightly as she pondered on that thought, her eyes lingering on the picture before drifting to the picture right beside it.

She was surprised to see that this picture was laminated. Her eyes quickly roved the rest of the board and realized that no other picture had been given this extra special care. Curiously she leaned to take a closer look at the picture. 'She's pretty.' She had long wavy hair curling around her slim shoulders as she tightly hugged the small grinning boy in her arms. 'Is this…Kurosaki-kun's mother? She really is so beautiful!' She raised a hand up to her mouth to stifle the sound of her giggles as she thought, 'And Kurosaki-kun looks so adorable in this picture! I wonder why he thinks that he looks weird when he smiles.'

Her smile widened as she took in picture after picture. Her hand moved the cell phone over the board slowly, her eyes following the path slowly and then she saw it. Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped her cell phone in surprise as she espied a very familiar face. She felt her face heat up as she saw a picture of herself tacked on the board. 'Isn't this the picture Rukia-chan took of me?! When did she give it to Kurosaki-kun?!' She stared at her own smiling countenance; half hoping that she could glean some answer from the still picture.

She let out a surprised squeak and dropped her cell as Ichigo let out a soft groan. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth as she turned around to see if her squeal or the proceeding thud had woken Ichigo up from his sleep. She stood there, clasping her mouth and staring with wide eyes at his sleeping figure that slumbered on. Her hands dropped to her chest, a relieved sigh slipping out from her lips before she looked down, 'Where did it- ah there it is!'

She ducked down under the table to grab her cell phone. 'Looks like the dust bunnies are having a proper tea party here. I wonder who does the cleaning for Kurosaki-kun and Renji-kun. They have a very lax dust bunny policy. I wonder where they keep th-!'

The loud *kin-kon* of the door bell had Orihime jerking upwards in alarm, her head smacking into the table as she completely forgot her location in surprise. 'ITA~!' She shuffled outwards, her hands cradling her throbbing head as tears came to her eyes. 'I've got an owie now.' Grasping her cell phone in one hand and taking support of the table, she slowly stood up.

"Izzat someone at t' door?" Ichigo's sleepy inquiry cutting into the silence.

Orihime rubbed her head "Eh? Ah yes. Please rest Kurosaki-kun. I'll take care of it." He sleepily thanked her and she was grateful that he hadn't asked what the loud *thunk* sound had been. She could just imagine the frown on his face if she had told him that she had accidentally banged her head into his table. She shuffled out of the room, day dreaming about what Ichigo's response would have been.

'He would scowl at me and scold me at the same time before asking me where I got. And then I bet he would go to get the first aid kit only to realize that someone had stolen it from his bathroom. And that would make Kurosaki-kun become a detective! His main objective being to find out who stole his first aid kit while helping stray parrots out of trees, grandparents to find their lost hamsters and lost charms find their way back home! And he would wear the cool leather coat with army boots that go *stomp stomp stomp*!'

As she reached the door, she giggled behind her hand, 'Kakoi~! Detective Kurosaki Ichigo!' The doorbell ringing again made her call out, "Hai Hai!" She twisted the lock before swinging the door open, "Irrashaimasen!" *wham* "ITA!"

'Ita?' Orihime peered up at the tall pale faced man standing before her ('Wow. This person would make a good clown. Except he'd be a sad clown with tear streaks instead of a happy clown.') only, he was very coolly looking to his right where a very loud voice cursed, "The fuck, Kurosaki?!" Orihime quickly stepped forward, peeking from behind the door to see who let out the expletive.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Ichigo sleepily sat up in his bed, pulling the damp towel off his forehead as the loud voices and laughter from outside the room filtered into his sleep muddled brain. 'Who the hell is that? Is Renji back already?' Not wanting to risk getting a headache, he slowly pushed the futon off his body. He noted with a certain degree of relief that the stiff ache in his legs had all but disappeared, as he stood up fully.

He kept his left hand on the far wall, his palm resting on it as he shuffled forward towards the closed door. He could make out the muffled sound of Orihime's surprised exclamation as the other voice, decidedly male, retorted by with a long comment. 'That doesn't sound like Renji. Then who the fuck is she talking with?'

Ichigo quickly opened the door, wincing at the harsh light before his gaze landed on the trip sitting on the dining table, eating rice crackers and drinking tea. Neither of the three had noticed that their conversation was being eaves dropped on and Grimmjow carried on.

"I'm not kidding you! He got stinking drunk on our graduation trip to Tokyo. He climbed that statue of…whats the name of it Ulquiorra? The loyal dog one?"

The green eyes man calmly took a sip of his tea before replying, "Hachiko."

Orihime's eyes were wide open in shock and surprise, "He climbed that?! Why?"

Grimmjow gave her a wide grin, "We dared him too. Stupid idiot was drunk enough to do it too. For free. Usually we'd have to pay him something but man that was a great trip. The next day he had such a killer headache, he kept cursing us all the way back."

Ulquiorra very calmly raised his cup up to his lips before he commented, "You are forgetting the Tokyo Tower incident."

Orihime's gaze ticked to Ulquiorra's immediately, her voice dripping with curiosity as she asked, "What happened at Tokyo Tower?"

Grimmjow chortled with laughter, "Damn how could I forget that!" He waved his hand, indicating for Orihime to lean in as he spoke, "We went to Tokyo Tower right? And we're waiting for our turn to go up when Ichigo suddenly gets it into his head that, he can't stand the sight of it. So what does he do? He runs up to the base of it, and starts humping against it. And he's yelling out 'This tower is my bitch!'"

Orihime's face turned pink. And then she jumped out of her seat when Ichigo loudly slammed the door (immediately regretting it as the loud sound caused a stab of pain to go through his head) and yelled, "I didn't do any of that shit! Stop making shit up and feeding it to people!"

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime immediately went up to him, her hand resting on his arm as he rubbed his forehead. "Are you feeling alright? You should have called me if you wanted anything."

Grimmjow cheerfully raised his cup at the darkly scowling orange head, "Yo Kurosaki! Heard you were ill and we were in the neighborhood so we thought we'd swing by!"

"How kind of you!" Ichigo groused in a mock sweet tone. "So nice of you to stop by and tell my girlfriend all sorts of cock and bull stories!"

"Eh? They aren't real?" Orihime looked in askance at first Grimmjow and then Ichigo. "You didn't run around Shibuya in a Stormtrooper's costume while doing the Para Para?" Ichigo rolled his eyes, "No I didn't!"

"Ja, you didn't run around Akihabara in a maid costumer either?" Ichigo glared at Grimmjow, "No. No I didn't!" Her face turned slightly pink again as she hesitantly asked, "Err…then…the Tokyo Tower…you didn't…?"

Ichigo's face turned slightly red as he ground out, as patiently and as calmly as he could manage, "No. This jackass over here..." Ichigo pointed at a chuckling Grimmjow, "made all that up."

Ulquiorra's low voice spoke up, "But you did get drunk on that trip."

Grimmjow's all too cheerful continuation made Ichigo want to smash his grinning face into the nearest wall, "Yeah that part was true. Our little princess here used to be a very light drunk. He used to get drunk on a glass of sake. BUT!" Grimmjow raised a finger, his expression serious as he met Orihime's curious gaze. "He had worked hard in order to improve himself and now he gets completely smashed on three whole bottles of sake! He had worked hard indeed!"

Leaning slightly on Orihime, Ichigo shuffled over to the table. He rolled his eyes as Grimmjow kept chuckling into his cup. 'And that bastard Ulquiorra is even smiling! Why the hell does everyone see this as a chance to hit me while I'm down? Oh I can't wait to get back at these idiots when I get the chance!'

Ichigo heatedly retorted, "Atleast I don't start singing enka when I'm drunk!" Grimmjow slammed his cup into the table before growling, "There is nothing wrong with enka!" Ichigo smirked weakly, "Oh yeah sure. If you weren't born in the 60's, then it's totally alright. Old man." Orihime's gaze was ticking between Grimmjow and Ichigo as though she was watchinga tennis match and she fretfully wondered, 'This can't be good for Kurosaki-kun's fever...'

"Now you listen here you idiot strawberry head, enka is…" Grimmjow stopped mid sentence when Ulquiorra pulled out his cell phone. "Who is it? Is it Nel? If it is, I'm not here!" Ulquiorra gave him a cold glance before excusing himself out the room. 'Honestly, how can these two idiots always fight every time we meet. They are not normal.'

"Yo Ulquiorra!" The dark haired man looked up at the greeting, bending his head slightly as Renji closed the front door behind him. "Here for a visit? And hello…" Renji stared down at the black boots innocently sitting beside the low heeled slippers. "Who else is here?"

"Grimmjow. If you'll excuse me, I have to take this call." Renji nodded, pushing the door open, "Yeah sure, go ahead." He watched as the tall man raised the cell phone up to his ear as he slipped his feet back into his dark loafers before slipping outside. Renji pushed his shoes off, taking care to set them neatly on the side before he padded down the short hallway.

'Why did I bother asking who else was here? No one else argues with Ichigo this much but Grimmjow.' Renji sighed as he rounded the corner to see a completely nervous Orihime moving her head back and forth between an extremely peeved Grimmjow and an irate Ichigo as they argued heatedly. 'And I wonder what's the topic of today's argument.'

"You take that back bout ABS or else I'm gonna dye your hair pink like I did in high school!"

Grimmjow scoffed at the threat "Like hell I am! Those wanna-be's have about as much culture and talent as a fish with a guitar!"

Orihime's worried gaze suddenly landed on Renji's and she stood up suddenly, her chair loudly grazing against the flooring as she all but yelled out in relief, "Renji-kun! Okairinisai! How was your date?"

"It was good, thanks." He let out a sigh as he noted that the two rivals were two statements away from resuming their debate when he cut in, asking Ichigo "You feeling any better or still feel like shit?"

Ichigo jerked his thumb towards Grimmjow, "I was feeling fine till I found out that he was spewing all sorts of bullshit stories about me to Inoue." Renji grinned, "Really?" He turned towards Grimmjow, "Do tell!"

Ichigo groaned and was saved further embarrassment when Ulquiorra re-entered the room. "Grimmjow. We have to head back to the office." Grimmjow scowled, "What happened?" "The client from Fukuya Corporation is due to arrive in another hour and Neliel wishes for you to go over some data before the meeting."

"Keh. Attitude like that makes me wonder who the hell the boss of the company is." Grimmjow picked up his jacket, draining his cup before placing his cup back on the table. He looked down at Orihime as he spoke, "It was great to finally meet you. I had wanted to meet the woman who had this nitwit by the balls."

Ichigo grimaced and face palmed, irritating welling up in him as he ground out, "Would you just fucking leave already?!" Ichigo watched as the smug faced man and his companion were escorted out by a bemused Renji before he turned his gaze towards his very pink faced girlfriend. "Sorry about that."

Her gaze darted up to meet his, her hands coming up from out of her lap as she waved them in front of her, "Oh no it's alright really. Kurosaki-kun's friends are so much fun so there really isn't any reason for you to apologize."

"But they're crude idiots." Ichigo's spoke as though he was explaining that two and two together was four. It was an obvious fact of life. Much like the sky is blue, the grass is green and chocolate is the most delicious treat on Earth.

Renji's dry voice retorted, "Nice to know what you think of us. We think the same thing about you." Renji came to stand behind Ichigo as Orihime stood up from her seat. "I should be heading back now. I told onii-chan that I'll be back by six."

Ichigo stood up, "I'll walk you out." Renji watched as his roommate shuffled out of the room with his girlfriend, who was fretting over him all the way. He sat down in the abandoned chair, one hand scratching the back of his head as his mind wandered back to the conversation he had with Rukia just a few short hours ago.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

"Renji. You have to tell Ichigo to be careful."

Renji stood his attempt to take a bite of his spaghetti as he turned his puzzled gaze towards the dark haired girl. "Be careful? For what?"

Rukia poked the pasta on her plate as she quietly answered his query, "You know how Ichigo beat up Toki for trying to hit on Orihime right?" Renji nodded, it had become the talk of the campus and it was more or less an open secret really even though Toki had refused to tell who had landed him in the hospital.

Rukia's worried gaze met his as she spoke, "I heard a few days ago that Toki had…or has a girlfriend and he told her some weird story that Orihime tried to sleep with him but he rejected her and then she got Ichigo to beat him up." Renji's brows furrowed in confusion, "What's that got to do…"

Rukia let out a frustrated sigh, "I heard that she's out to get even with both Ichigo and Orihime! What was her name…." Renji watched as Rukia tapped her forehead with a finger, mumbling underneath her breath as she strove to remember the name of the girl. "Ah!" She looked up at him, "Ueda Midori! That's the name of the girl."

"Ueda Midori?" Renji repeated the name, trying to commit it to memory. "I'll tell Ichigo to keep an eye out then. And maybe ask some of the guys from the club too." Rukia gave him a relieved and grateful smile as she took hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.

"What's up with you?"

Renji looked up at Ichigo, who was giving him a puzzled look. Renji pointed at the chair, "Sit your ass down. I gotta tell you something."

Did you manage to catch all the references? I kinda went nuts with em in this chapter XD Junjou Romantica, Detroit Metal City (in two places), a little bit of Lovenista (shoujo manga), The Melancholy/The Dissapearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Johnny Choo (youtube him) and Abingdon Boys School.

and HARK! The plot of afoot! D: Be careful not to step on its tail please...its a tad touchy bout that.

Reviews get me smiling and chuckling and roffling in my seat! :D