Okay, so, I'm finally updating for this story! :D I feel like it's been forever and I miss this fic so much! :P

Anyway, here's chapter 11! :D Hope you enjoy!

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After Ichigo and I entered my room I went to my bed and sat down, absently pulling my sweater off and tossing it to the floor. I glanced up at him and saw that he was standing by the doorway, leaning against the frame of the opening with his steaming cup of coffee in hand.

"Ichigo, you can sit down," I said, gesturing toward the empty space beside me.

He shrugged, taking another sip of his beverage. I decided not to push it and felt my nose wrinkle at the thought of the black coffee he was drinking. "How can you drink that stuff?" I asked him, my legs curling under me.

"It's good," he stated after the mug retreated from his lips. "It's really bitter, I like it."

"How is bitter good?" I questioned, smiling at his choice of words.

"I don't know," he responded, returning the gesture. "It just is."

I shrugged and dismissed the discussion. I pat the comforter next to me and gave him a suddenly stern look. "Sit down, you're making me nervous," I demanded. He sat without another word of protest and quickly finished his coffee, sitting the empty cup on my night table.

"Hey," he started quietly, turning back to me. "Weren't we supposed to start painting today?"

"Oh...yeah...," I said, laughing. "We can go back if you want."

He shook his head slightly. "Not really. I guess we can wait until next weekend if you don't mind," he suggested.

I nodded and gave him a concerned look. I noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes, making his fading black eye look worse than it was. For the last few days he seemed to be exhausted all the time and when he had the chance to sleep, he couldn't. Earlier that morning when I had asked him why he was awake before me he answered, "I couldn't sleep last night, I kept waking up." I had questioned him, concerned, but he reassured me it was just the fact that he was sleeping on the couch.

Turning toward him, I smiled up at his tired face. "Well, you wanna practice then?"

He nodded, smiling widely at my offer. "Alright," I stated, standing and grabbing my cello. As I headed toward the door Ichigo took my music and my bow from me carefully, following me down. As we entered the living room we ran into Hisana and Byakuya. They were slipping on their jackets when they both turned to me and Ichigo.

Byakuya absently pointed at my cello and asked, "How long have you played?"

"Since I was eight, so almost ten years," I answered, proud of my decade of dedication.

Nodding he continued. "I played the viola back in high school. It's been awhile since I've played."

"Cool, you were in orchestra?" I questioned excitedly.

Laughing, Hisana said, "Don't get her started on orchestra, she'll never shut up." She smiled at me as she teased me.

"Ha ha," I said dryly, smiling back at her before returning my attention to Byakuya. "You should bring your viola over and we could play!"

He laughed softly at my offer, shrugging. "Sure, but you realize it's been years since I've played, right?"

"So? You'll be fine, I'm sure," I continued, waving his comment away absently. "You should come over sometime and play with me and Ichigo."

"What do you play?" he asked, directing his gaze to Ichigo's slanky form.

"The piano," he answered, his tone making him sound bored. I assumed it was his lack of sleep, but wasn't completely sure.

Byakuya nodded and shrugged again. "Alright, if Hisana doesn't mind, I'll bring it over next time," he said calmly.

His comment caused a grin to tug at my lips. "'Next time'? You're already planning a second date when you haven't even gone on your first?"

His smile widened as he nodded, his response causing my sister's face to heat up noticeably. "Okay," she finally said, her hand gripping the doorknob. "We really should be going. You two can talk later." Her tone was amused but I couldn't help but notice how anxious she seemed.

I nodded and absently took a step back toward the hallway. "Have fun you two. Let me know when you get home, Sana," I said, waving before heading toward the second living room with Ichigo following me. As we entered the room I sat up my stand and grabbed my stuff from Ichigo one by one before putting them all in their place. After setting up, Ichigo took his place at the piano and played the notes I needed to tune my cello. The sound of the crisp notes Ichigo played for me were refreshing and comforting. It had been awhile since he had come over to play instead of just to hang out.

After my instrument was in tune and my bow had enough rosin on it, I got out a new piece that we had gotten int orchestra the previous week. It was a simple piece when it came to notes, but the dynamics were tricky to get right when it was new. The song was called Casus Belli, a Latin phrase meaning the justification of war.

After Ichigo pulled out his own copy from his thin folder we began playing, working four measures at a time. By the time we had reached the third set of four measures the door bell began ringing through the house, echoing loudly. Cocking an eyebrow I sat my cello aside and told Ichigo to hold on. He continued to play, getting distracted quickly with one of the several songs he had memorized.

As I approached the door I noticed a familiar vehicle in the drive, but I wasn't sure who's it was. After opening the door I soon realized it was the new car Renji had gotten for his birthday a few months before. I sighed and cocked my hip to the side at the sight of Renji and Mina on my doorstep. "Can I help you?" I asked, directing my anger at Renji. I had no reason to be rude to Mina, so I wasn't. Honestly, I wasn't even mad at Renji anymore. He had agreed to be nice, but I was still skeptical about how he was going to treat Ichigo in general.

Renji absently lifted the strap that I now noticed on his shoulder, realizing he was carrying his cello. "Wanna practice?" he asked. At his words Mina smiled at me and lifted her viola case.

I couldn't help but return the gesture and nodded, stepping aside and letting them in. "Sure, me and Ichigo were practicing that new piece Kaien-dono gave to us Friday. If you don't want to play that, we can find something else," I said lightly, letting them know he was here.

"Oh, Kurosaki's here?" Mina asked, trying to add a happy tint to her tone. I knew she was just as worried about Renji's behavior as I was.

"Yep."

"What's he practicing on?" she questioned absently.

"My sister's had a piano for as long as I can remember, but she's never played it. She lets him use it whenever," I answered, leading them down the hall and into the second living room. Ichigo was still playing, the melody of the song I didn't recognize drowning out my last few words. As we approached he continued, not noticing any of our presences, the music growing in volume as he seemed to slam his fingers against the keys with grace one can only get from years of practice.

As I walked up to him I placed my hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly, his fingers freezing as he glanced up at me. "We've got some others to practice with," I said, giving him an apologetic look, earning a confused one back.

He turned on his stool and saw Renji and Mina standing a few feet away, both holding their instrument cases. His expression hardened slightly and he just nodded, turning back to the piano without saying a word. When I glanced back at the two behind us, I saw Renji glare slightly before starting to set up next to my seat. Mina started setting up on Renji's other side, unfolding a stand she had brought with her, setting it so it was matching her height.

"Mina, you want a chair?" I asked after noticing.

"No thanks, I need to work on my posture, this usually does it. But thank you," she answered, laying her orchestra folder on her flimsy stand and pulling her viola and bow out of her case.

I grabbed Renji a chair while he put his stand together. After both were set up and had pulled out Casus Belli we began practicing in the same manor that Ichigo and I had before they arrived. As the next hour went by we all got a lot of work done regarding the song. Both Renji and Mina were much better than they usually were in class, not being distracted by socializing. Renji even had to help me with a lot of the more difficult sections. I could tell Ichigo was surprised by the difference in their skill levels when they actually tried.

After an hour of working on the song we played through the whole thing. I had trouble throughout the whole second half of the song, but Renji made up for it by playing loudly, something that came natural to him. Mina, Renji, and Ichigo seemed to find the piece easy by then and played through it with little trouble or error. I, on the other hand struggled a lot, and it was obvious. I wasn't really used to being the worst when it came to music, but it didn't bother me. I had improved a ton, that was all that mattered. Especially since we had only had it for three days.

Sighing tiredly, I sat my cello down and got everyone's attention. "Let's take a break," I said, standing and stretching. "Anyone want something to drink?"

"Sure," Mina said, sitting her viola in it's case and her bow on her stand, getting ready to come with me to the kitchen. "Want me to grab you something Renji?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," he said, absently leaning against the shoulders of his cello.

"No problem," she answered, smiling slightly before looking back at me.

"Ichigo, come get something with us," I said, not wanting him and Renji to be alone in fear of another fight.

Shaking his head slightly, he rested his head against the level of wood above the keys, looking down at them tiredly. "No thanks," he answered, lightly tapping the gleaming spruce pieces, causing the piano to whisper a harmony he seemed to be making up. The soft tone of the instrument's words seemed to be lullying him to sleep.

"Alright," I answered, nervously leaving with Mina following. As we reached the kitchen I got a bottle of water for all three of us and handed two to Mina, turning toward the entrance, ready to get back.

"Uh, could I have something else, please?" Mina asked sheepishly. "Sorry, I just really don't feel like drinking water."

"Oh," I started, turning back hurriedly. I opened the fridge and quickly named off the several beverages we had. "Whichever you want," I said, smiling back at her, trying not to show my concern.

"Um, Sprite sounds good," she answered. Nodding, I reached the cupboard in two steps and took a glass to the counter by the fridge, getting the two liter out and pouring her a tall glass. After returning the two liter and the extra bottle of water to the fridge, I practically jogged to the second living room, Mina managing to keep pace. As we approached the entrance I heard talking and stopped her, listening to Ichigo's familiar soft voice.

"I'm sorry I hit you," he said, his tone surprisingly brave.

"Don't be. I hit you first, I was expecting it," Renji's gruff voice answered. He wasn't saying it with acceptance, he was just denying Ichigo's apology all together.

"Well, I am."

"Whatever."

"Look," Ichigo started again, anger clear in his voice. "I really couldn't care less if you hate me. But you're Rukia's friend and I don't want her to worry about it. I don't have a problem with you, but I will if you keep up this shit. And trust me, you don't want me to have a problem with you." His words surprised me and I was sure Renji was going to go crazy at his threat, but Renji's quick answer stopped me from intervening.

"What the hell are you talking about, Rukia worrying?" Renji's voice sounded angrier as well, like he was about to thrash out if Ichigo continued to talk like that.

"You couldn't tell? She didn't even want to leave us alone because she was afraid we'd fight again."

I could hear the annoyance in Renji's response and imagined him rolling his sharp eyes. "Whatever. Just stay out of my way, or I'll kick your ass."

"We'll see," Ichigo answered. I didn't give Renji the chance to respond in fear that he would attack Ichigo. I quickly stepped into the room, seeing them glare each other down and approached Ichigo, sitting next to him on the bench. I noticed that even while glaring he looked like he was about to pass out.

Mina approached Renji and handed him the bottle of water. He took it and thanked her quietly, his frustration getting her attention. Leaning against his chair she placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled closer to him. "We should go, Renji," she said calmly, her hand absently smoothing out his T-shirt.

Nodding, he took a long swig of the water and stood carefully, his hand grabbing her forearm lightly, conscious of how close she was. They both began packing up their instruments and taking their stands down. When finished Renji slung his cello case over his shoulder carelessly while Mina held the handle of her case by the handle. I took her empty glass from her and stood, leaving Ichigo at the piano as we headed toward the door.

When we reached the front door they turned and looked at me. "Thanks for letting us stay. Sorry for just dropping by," Mina said, smiling down at me.

"No problem, it was fun," I answered, returning the gesture slightly. "I'll see you guys on Monday."

They nodded and said their goodbyes before leaving. I sighed and headed back to the other living room, wondering whether I should talk to Ichigo about his conversation with Renji or not. I approached him and noticed his head was resting against the piano again.

Sighing, my concern got the better of me. I knew he needed to rest, but I was surprised to see him this tired. I began to shake him gently. "Ichigo, get up, I'll take you to bed," I said, but he didn't respond. My worry grew and turned into panic quickly. I shook him in a rougher manner, but he still didn't wake. Instead his still form fell over, causing him to descend from the piano bench all together. His head his the floor with a thunk, his arms sprawled out in front of him. I screamed, horrified at what was happening. I felt horrible for not being able to catch him, but the fact that he still didn't wake caused tears to flood my eyes. I cried loudly and continued to scream.

After a few dragging moments, I forced myself to run to the phone and call 911 for the second time that weekend. I explained the situation as fast as I could, my voice thick with tears. After they had my address and name I ran back to Ichigo and sat next to him, brushing hair out of his blank face as more tears ran down my face. I was too shocked to even check if he was breathing or if he had a pulse.

I sat on the floor, sobbing, until the paramedics came, praying that he'd be okay and trying to figure out what could possibley be wrong with him. Why didn't I realize he was sick sooner! This is all my fault!

-:-

Okay, so, I finally found a way to leave you with a cliffhanger! :D I'm so bad at those, so I hope this one's okay! :P

Hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know what you think!

Sorry if this chapter's kind of short! :/