It won't be long he said, no more than a month he said, so what has taken so long?

To that I say, you are right, I was wrong, school is time consuming, writing is hard, and I am lazy. Pick whatever answer you think is best. Anyway I have finally updated this story, and (hopefully) the next one won't take as long.

As always tell me what you think, give me any pointers for my writing, and give me ideas for the story, who knows, I may use them, and credit you of course.

I do need help with deciding who Ichigo will be in a relationship, because dammit I like too many of the girls in this series and I can't narrow it down to one. The best I had was two, and then I thought of two more, and it is frustrating me.

Man has it really been since September since I updated, that is depressing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

Ichigo sighed. Today was not his day. In fact, now that he thought about it, ever since Rukia left, it had not been his day.

As he trudged down the street following his friends to Momo's house to see some kid she knew, he couldn't help but think of everything that had happened to him in the past month since his first friend left to join the Kuchiki clan.

Flashback

Rukia had just run out of the classroom they were standing in after Renji tried to convince her how much better her life would be as a noble and away from them. Though to Ichigo, it seemed as if he was trying to convince himself more than Rukia.

"Smooth, Renji," Ichigo muttered to his friend as he began to chase after Rukia.

Renji said nothing as he stared at the door that Rukia had just run out of. If Ichigo had turned to look back, he would have seen the guilt and the reluctant resolve in Renji's eyes.

Chasing down Rukia was not too difficult. She had stopped running after she had gotten out of the building and found a place to sit not far from the exit she used.

Approaching her loudly so he didn't startle her, Ichigo sat down next to her, and said nothing, waiting for her to calm down and be ready to talk.

It took only a few minutes before Rukia wiped the tears from her face, and took a deep, shuttering breath.

"I don't know why I was expecting anything from an idiot like him," Rukia started in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Well, you know Renji, he doesn't always think things through the stuff he is about to say," Ichigo replied immediately, trying to get some sort of reaction from her.

He was happy when Rukia cracked a small smile. The smile was short lived, and was quickly replaced with a small frown.

"I feel like he just wants to get rid of me Ichigo, and that hurt," she began. Ichigo remained silent to let her talk it out. "But that can't be true, right? Haven't we been through too much for something like this to break us apart? But no matter how I try to convince myself it still hurts that it seems like he wants me to leave."

Ichigo waited for a moment to make sure she said her piece, and then began his.

"You know that is not true, Renji would never want you to leave. I think he is trying to push you towards something he thinks you want," Ichigo said calmly. "He doesn't want you to leave, but he knows that joining the Kuchiki clan will open more opportunities for you than staying here with us."

"I think I prefer your explanation," she remarked quietly, but accepted his claim regardless.

The pair fell back into silence then. Rukia was working up the courage to ask him something and Ichigo was waiting for her to ask it. After another minute or so, she did.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked timidly.

"About?" Ichigo prodded.

"You know what!" she snapped back at him, irritated that he was forcing her to talk about it.

"Say it anyways," Ichigo said, undeterred by her flash of anger.

"Do you think I should join them, the Kichiki's?" Rukia growled in frustration.

"I think that you should decide that on your own," Ichigo replied. He was content to leave it at that, be when he glanced back at her, Ichigo was assaulted by her smoldering glare.

"Ok, ok," Ichigo said quickly, raising his hands in his defense. "What I mean to say is that I think what I said about them before is true, joining their clan will give you new opportunities, maybe even better ones than if you stayed here, but it is hard to say. On the other hand, leaving separates us until graduation, and there is no guarantee that we will be around each other after that if we join other squads." Ichigo paused to take a breath. "So, to me at least, this is between taking a risk that could reward you greatly, or staying with what you know and ignoring the rewards from the other option."

"I honestly don't know what you should do," he continued, his words causing Rukia to deflate. "Both options have their pros and cons. I just want you to be happy."

Rukia groaned; her hopes of getting straight answers from Ichigo were ruined.

"And here I was hoping for an answer. I can see what you mean, about both sides, but I don't know if joining them is worth leaving you all," Rukia lamented.

Ichigo then had a thought.

"What if you were only alone for a year?" he asked her.

"A year? How would that happen?" Rukia responded rhetorically. "There is no way one of you could…" she trailed off as she realized what he was getting at.

Ichigo smirked as her realizations were going across her face.

"Ichigo, are you saying that you could be out of here in a year. That is ridiculous!" she replied in disbelief that he would suggest such a thing.

"Wow, thanks for the overwhelming confidence Rukia," Ichigo said in mock offense with a hand over his heart. "That hurts, Rukia, that hurts right here."

"You know as well as I do that only one person has managed to do that. Are you saying that you are just like him? Don't promise me something like that if you know you won't be able to keep it."

"Then it is a good think I will be able to do it." Ichigo replied confidently. "I don't want you to not join the Kuchiki clan just because you won't be alone."

"You make that sound like a bad excuse. I thought you didn't have an opinion on this anyway," she fired back.

"I just don't want to be a reason you did something you regretted, and I don't think Renji does either," Ichigo said honestly.

Rukia had nothing to say to that and quietly contemplated the short conversation they had.

"You wouldn't think less of me if I left would you?" she meekly asked.

"No, I wouldn't, and I would feel the same if you stayed." Ichigo affirmed. "This is your decision Rukia, and I will support you either way."

He stood up and brushed the dirt from his legs and offered one last piece of advice: "You should take the one that you think will make you happiest in the end, and know that no matter what, your friends will always stay you friends, because I know I will."

With that he walked back from where he came and left her there to come up with an answer.

Flashback End

Ichigo smiled as he remembered Rukia coming up to him later that night and telling him she would accept the offer, and then she told him the he had better hold up his end of the bargain.

True to his word, Ichigo had thrown himself into studying and quickly set himself apart from the other student in his class. He was then separated from his friends to continue on his path of early graduation. He was already into the third year classes, which prevented him from seeing his friends even more.

"Hey Ichigo, what are you thinking about?" Momo asked him innocently, unknowingly bringing him out of his memories.

"Nothing important," he replied.

"Nothing important my ass," Renji grumbled. "Why were you smiling then? Was it a girl? I bet it was," he continued teasing.

Ichigo sighed, choosing to ignore his friends teasing. To do this he began to look around the area they were walking.

As Momo had claimed, they were staying within the district that the school was in as they headed out towards where she lived. It was the first time since school started for them that he had been out of the academy grounds.

Momo was happily walking besides Ichigo, humming as she requited herself with the area, Junrinan.

Ichigo had to admit; the place was pretty picturesque, much different than what her remembered from Inuzuri.

He never really noticed the differences between where he was from and where he was now. Sure he noticed the big things on the journey from Inuzuri, like the standing buildings, the abundance of water, and shoes, he never paid enough attention to the smaller thing.

First of all the people in Junrinan were happier, not in a perpetual fowl mood like they were in Inuzuri. Ichigo also noticed the standard of living in the first district was much higher than were he came from. Everyone had a house, and one that wasn't about to collapse if the wind blew too hard. Everyone had nice clothes and shoes as opposed to the rags of the 78th district. Water was everywhere, and was given freely, not stolen from irate merchants and stingy adults.

Second was the scenery. Aside from the broken down houses and the occasional tree, there was little to look at in Inuzuri. However, Junrinan was a veritable lush forest with houses surrounded by trees and other greenery, filling the area with life and color.

Having enough of the silence he looked at Momo and said, "So, remind me, why we are visiting your boyfriend?"

Momo immediately blushed and turned away from him, Renji snorted behind him, and Ichigo swore he saw Kira stiffen for a second.

"He isn't my boyfriend!" Momo hurried out. "He is just my friend, I have known him for a long time."

"Your awfully red in the face for someone who is just visiting a 'friend,'" Renji teased, continuing from where Ichigo started.

Momo brought her hands up to hide her face and shook her head in denial.

Renji smirked and turned to Kira, "What do you think about it Kira?"

Ichigo could swear that Renji was asking something else by the shit-eating grin on his face and from Kira's frown, but he had no idea what it could be.

"Guys," Momo pleaded with a whine, "I am serious, Shiro-chan and I are just friends." She turned to Ichigo with a desperate look in her eye, "You have to believe me Ichigo."

Unable to deny such a look, and feeling he had teased her enough anyway, Ichigo smiled and told her he believed her.

After everyone calmed down silence resumed again and Ichigo was happy to return to enjoying the area they were walking through.

Momo, however, had no problem trying to start a new conversation.

"How do you think Rukia is doing?" she innocently ventured.

Sadly, her innocent question brought the pleasant mood crashing down.

Renji came to a sudden stop, a scowl fixed on his face, clearly unhappy with the topic. Ichigo had noticed that every time Rukia came up, Renji would scowl and walk away, and if he couldn't do that, he would get angry.

"What is it to you? I am sure she is fine now that she left us," Renji growled out.

"You make it sound like she didn't like us," Kira started, "You know it isn't like that."

Renji was hearing none of it, yet again, ad Ichigo couldn't help but sigh in frustration, which Renji took offense too.

"What are sighing about, it is your fault she left, and now you are trying to leave too!" Renji accused, his voice steadily rising.

"I seem to remember you telling her how much better it would be with the Kuchiki clan," Ichigo calmly countered.

Renji growled in frustration. "That doesn't mean I wanted her to leave like you did!"

"What!? I didn't want her to leave, I just wanted her to do what was she thought was best. The only thing I told her was that I would support whatever decision she made," he returned, his frustration growing. How could Renji think he wanted Rukia to leave, she was his first and closest friend.

"You," Ichigo continued his rant, "where the one who told her to leave. You made her feel like you didn't want her here."

Renji had nothing to say and turned away from Ichigo, effectively ending the argument. Kira and Momo stood uncomfortably to the side, trying to avoid being pulled in.

Seeing them, Ichigo took a calming breath and said," but you are right, I am sure she is fine and misses being here with us."

That statement brought the whole conversation to a close, and the rest of the way to Momo's place was walked in tense silence. During the silence Ichigo realized that Renji had accused him of trying to leave the group. Maybe that was why things had started to get tense between the two.

That thought was put out of his mind when Momo happily proclaimed they had arrived.

"Come on!" Momo chirped, happy to be back and see her friends, "I need to get some watermelons and then we are going to find Shiro-chan!"

The boys just followed her inside the house to retrieve the fruits and then followed her back out, as the walked off towards another house.

"You guys are going to like Shiro-chan, he has been my friend for a long time," Momo said, picking up her conversation.

"What can you tell us about him?" Kira asked.

Momo paused for a moment in thought, before shrugging with a smile saying, "he's kinda short."

Ichigo laughed at the innocent way she delivered her description. To him Momo was the most innocent person he had met, and she would never say something to insult or hurt someone. It was an endearing trait rather than an annoying on like he had first thought. So when she said that the boy was short, she said it with no malice.

"What?" she asked, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Nothing, just admiring your honesty," Ichigo responded smoothly, causing her to blush once again.

"T-thanks," she stuttered out, trying to calm herself but unable to stay quiet from her nerves.

Looking up, Momo spotted the house she was looking for and rushed ahead, causing the boys to pick up their pace.

"Hey, slow down," Renji complained, as caught off guard by he sudden sprint as the others.

"Shiro-chan!" Momo squealed as Ichigo caught sight of, as Momo had described, short white haired kid sitting on a porch.

The boy's head snapped up, looking for the person who called out to him. Upon spotting Momo his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Oh, it's just you, Bed Wetter Momo," the boy sighed.

Renji and Ichigo turned to each other with a smirk when they heard the nickname, their recent argument all but forgotten in the face of this new piece of information. This nickname would be used.

Momo, however, was not so happy about it.

"Ah!" she squeaked out her checks yet again dusted with red, "you said that you wouldn't call me that after I became a Shinigami."

The way she pouted was criminal, and it almost stopped Ichigo from calling her that right then. Almost.

"You aren't one yet, are you?" Shiro challenged. "And stop calling me Shiro-chan, it's Hitsugaya!"

Momo giggled before speaking, "This is Toshiro Hitsugaya, my friend."

Kira was the first to introduce himself with a simple, "Kira Izuru."

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Renji Abarai, the best of the group," Renji stated with a confident smirk.

"He's the modest one too," Kira deadpanned, surprising Ichigo, but getting to laugh all the same.

Hitsugaya was not impressed and ignored them, instead focusing on Momo.

"Why are you here, shouldn't you be back at the Academy?" he asked with a frown, clearly unhappy there were four people intruding on his alone time.

Momo was unfazed, but she was unable to respond when Renji beat her to it.

"For such a small kid, you sure are rude," Renji commented.

"I wasn't talking to you Pineapple head. Who is the rude one now?" the smaller kid retorted, brushing off the insult thrown at him.

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at the second new nickname this kid had given him, and that Renji had his insult thrown back at him.

The white haired child noticed the noise, but he ignored Ichigo and turned back to Momo, waiting for his answer.

"We had a break," she explained happily, used to how her friend was," and I wanted to visit. I brought snacks for us," motioning to the watermelons that the boys had carried for her.

Weighing the two options presented to him, Toshiro seemed to decide that the food would be worth dealing with Momo and her friends and nodded his head in agreement as Momo took the watermelon from Kira and began spliting it.

Once the first melon was split and pieces were handed out, conversation started once again.

"So, Ichigo," Kira began, "how are your new classes going, I was surprised you suddenly jumped to the third year class."

Ichigo shrugged as he took a bite from his slice, and then spoke. "It honestly isn't much harder than what I was doing when I was with you guys in the advanced class. I am sure you and Momo would be fine, Renji I am a bit iffy about."

"That's fine, I can still kick your ass in a fight Strawberry," Renji antagonized.

"Sure you could, Pineapple head," Ichigo said, stressing the new nickname.

"Hold on," Hitsugaya demanded, looking at Ichigo. "You are taking third year classes, I thought you were with Momo."

"I was, but then I was placed in higher classes based on my grades and performance in the practical stuff. As it stands I have taken the tests to get though the first and second year, and I am about to get through the third year in another month or so. After that I will be doing much more practical stuff, like sword styles, hakuda, and hoho, so my progress will slow down," Ichigo informed the short kid.

Mollified by his answer and lacking a desire to talk to them anymore, Toshiro stayed silent for the rest of the afternoon. The others talked and joked, content to leave him alone, though Momo would still tell him about her progress she had made, and they even managed to get a wry smile from the boy when they relived their first kido practice.

Soon enough the time they had to spend with Hitsugaya had come and gone, the watermelons had been eaten and the sun was about to drop beyond the horizon.

Standing apart from each other, the group said their goodbyes.

"Goodbye Shiro-chan, I will come back to see you soon," Momo said happily, ignoring the glare her friend sent towards her.

"Yeah, yeah, don't trip on your way back to school Bed Wetter Momo," Hitsugaya dismissed, ignoring her pout.

"It was nice to meet you Toshiro," Ichigo said, extending his hand toward the kid.

Frowning, he ignored the hand and turned his head, offering only, "it's Hitsugaya to you," as his goodbye.

Undaunted, Ichigo kept his hand out and waited. Reluctantly, Hitsugaya shook his hand, and Ichigo noticed how cold his hands were, but he made no outward reaction to it, unsure if this was unusual or not.

Smiling, Ichigo turned around and started the walk back to the Academy, with Renji and Kira following him, and Momo saying a few more words with the boy.

As they walked back Ichigo slowed down to walk beside Momo.

"Hey Bed Wetter Momo," he started, unable to help himself and trying not to look at the pout she probably had on.

"No, not you too," she whined.

"Has Toshiro always been cold?"

"Yeah, I was one of his few friends, all the other kids were frightened of him; he made them cry," she answered, misunderstanding what he was asking.

"Somehow I am not surprised, but that wasn't what I meant. I mean literally, has he always been cold. When I shook his hand, it was like touching ice," Ichigo clarified.

Momo thought in silence for a moment, before shrugging.

"He doesn't really touch people that often, so I don't really remember, but I don't think it was like touching ice."

"Interesting," Ichigo mumbled, closing his eyes in thought. "Do you think he is going to go the Academy eventually?"

"I don't know, I never really got a clear answer whenever I asked him, but I hope so, I have been having so much fun with you guys," Momo told him with a smile.

"Me too, Momo, me too," Ichigo agreed as he placed his hand on er head and ruffled her hair.

With that Ichigo stayed beside Momo and continued to talk with his friends as they returned to the Academy, all happy for the break they had gotten, but ready to continue their studies and exercises to reach graduation, whenever it occurred for them.

Ichigo felt that this was just what he needed to relax and let his worries go away, if only just for a day, and he was ready to get back to his studies to keep his promise to Rukia. With that thought Ichigo smiled and walked just a little faster.

So not too bad despite the long break between chapters, right? Tensions are rising between Renji and Ichigo, Rukia is gone, and Toshiro has been introduced. I am curious, who though Rukia was going to stay? I am pretty sure I said that she was going to leave before, but you never know, some people ignore these notes and go straight to the story.

Next up is the final test, because writing about school is boring. How will Ichigo fair, and will he graduate in one year? Find out next time.

Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, and message me when I am taking too long to update, it could work.

-Jimba