She waited for him like she did almost every other day. It was commonplace. She liked to wait outside of the school, look inside the windows during the day, and eavesdrop on the students during lunch. She never heard anything about him though. She never was sure how to take it either. She wished she heard his name, or got to see his face.
She missed him. Some days she would try to keep herself occupied, by playing with the leaves while she sat in a tree. One day she took a walk around the school grounds, but when she was almost caught by some big gym teacher, she realized that wasn't the smart thing to do either.
The bell rang, and the students walked outside. They were always in a group, but he was always behind them, knowing she was there, waiting for him. Even now, they were "Ichigo's Friends," even the few she knew. And then there was Ichigo, who was always surrounded by someone. She laughed at that, knowing how he's fun to pester. And then there was him, with his glasses hiding his eyes from everyone else. Even when she waved down to him as he looked up, she couldn't see his eyes.
"School's over already?"
"Same time every day."
"Except handicrafts day."
"That's right," he said with a bit of a smirk, as she jumped down from her perch.
"You know, I don't know everyone's name."
"Who's don't you know?"
At this point the others didn't even recognize he was gone. They knew he liked to go off and do his own thing. The tall boy stood silently on Ichigo's right, while a girl with short black hair stood next to him. The orange haired girl was next to 'Onee-san' who was on Ichigo's left. Some dorky kid with brown hair was walking backwards in front of Ichigo, while some little boy walked next to him with a cellphone.
"Well, everyone besides Ichigo's. O-oh, and yours of course," she laughed.
"Do you want to know them?"
"I do. If they're your friends-"
"Who said they're my friends?"
"Uryu. You leave the school with them almost every day."
"..." He pushed up his glasses in silence. He never liked to admit things like that. Not concerning Kurosaki anyways.
Quickly, she grabbed his unoccupied hand, lacing their fingers as she was used to, and started moving to catch up to the group. She didn't notice the redness of his complexion, or how his hand became sweaty in an instant.
"Hey!" With her free hand, she waved, hoping that the kid who was facing her would see.
"Calm down, Senna, they're not going anywhere."
Everybody but Ichigo proceeded to turn around. It took him the longest to catch on, as it usually did. It amused Uryu, and a smirk came to his face as Senna stopped pulling them towards the crowd. He pulled his hand back as fast as he could, realizing that now everybody could see them, and he didn't want any questions.
"H-hi there!"
He looked down at her, and could see she was...of all things...nervous. He never knew her to be nervous before.
"Everybody, this is-"
"Senna, what the Hell are you doing here?"
He felt his eyes harden at the ginger boy, not just for interrupting him, and ruining his introduction, but for being so rude to her.
"Kurosaki, stop being rude. I was going to introduce her to everyone."
"You, of all people?"
"Ichigo, stop it!"
The rest of the group watched as the three began bantering, going back and forth, berating Ichigo as he tried to make excuses.
"EVERYBODY CAN IT!" Walking over to the group from her position, Rukia moved to Ichigo, and put her hand over his mouth. "His behavior never changes. Don't mind him, Ishida." Her eyes moved to Senna, who she noticed, rather than looking concerned for Ichigo, who was flailing trying to get out of Rukia's grasp, had lightly grabbed onto Uryu's sleeve, after Ichigo made an insulting comment to the Quincy.
"Ehehheheh~! That was a funny show you guys!" The copper-haired girl, Orihime, then made her way over to everyone else. Senna felt a slight jerk, as Uryu claimed his sleeve back from her. The others joined shortly after.
"Ahem, as I was saying before Kurosaki interrupted," the blue eyes looked back to the orange-haired teenager, who was still being restrained by Rukia. A smirk came across his lips at the sight. "this is...Senna. She's...a friend. She informed me she wanted to be introduced to everyone. She already knows loudmouth Kurosaki-"
"And Onee-san!"
"But she wanted to meet the rest of you."
"May I ask if I'm still 'Onee-san'?"
"Mhm, uh, only because I don't know your actual name," giggling nervously, Senna scratched the back of her hand.
"That's so cute though! Kuchiki-san, can I call you 'Onee-san' too!"
"I don't think you should, Inoue," Rukia replied before looking back over to Senna. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia, of-" she cut herself off before accidentally revealing her shinigami status to the other 'normal' students. "...it's not important."
"And my name is Inoue Orihime! You're the girl that's staying with Ishida-kun! It's so nice of him to let you stay there since you didn't have anywhere else to go."
Senna could only nod, and smile. She could see Uryu tense up a bit each time the girl called Orihime spoke. She couldn't see the redness of his face, the embarrassment and shame he felt.
"Uryu is a very nice-"
"WAIT- Ishida, the 'top student' in our grade has a girl living with him!"
Rukia finally let Ichigo out of her grip, knowing he was the only one who could deal with that loud mouth.
"A pretty girl at that," the brown haired boy said as he shoved past Ichigo to get a closer look at Senna. "THERE ARE SO MANY PRETTY GIRLS HERE-"
She winced at the loudness surrounding her. She had grown so accustom to Uryu's quiet behavior, that loud noises became foreign. Orihime giggled, covering her mouth.
"That's Asano-kun, Senna-chan. He can be really loud, but he's pretty friendly. Kurosaki-kun puts him in headlocks like that one all the time. I don't think it hurts him though, at least I hope not-!" Ichigo did put him in a headlock while she wasn't looking.
"Don't worry about it, Orihime. Asano's such a loudmouth, he deserves whatever Ichigo does to him."
"O-oh, Senna-chan, this is Tatsuki-chan! She's wonderful!" Clapping her hands happily, Orihime smiled as the other girls smiled at each other, in a greeting manner.
She was beginning to feel overwhelmed. So many people, so many names, and there were still two left.
The boy on his cellphone finally put it in his pocket and and walked over, extending a hand out to Senna.
"My name is Kojima Mizuiro. Sorry about that. It's nice to meet you, Senna-san. I'm sure if Kurosaki-san and Ishida-san like you, you must be a nice person-"
"SHE'S NOT OLDER THAN YOU MIZUIRO!"
"Kurosaki-san, there's no need to yell," he said as he extended a hand to her. She shook it, a bit apprehensively. "Sado doesn't talk much. He's really just a gentile giant."
Sado nodded his head in return, acknowledging the statement. He was always quiet, and didn't feel as though he had anything to add.
"S-so many people."
Without thinking, Senna reached over, and grabbed Uryu's hand once again. She could feel his palm sweat, and realized how he wasn't holding her hand back, and even tensed.
"WHAT- THE PRETTY NEW GIRL LIKES-"
"CAN IT ASANO!"
Ichigo tightened his headlock on Keigo, not wanting him to be any louder than he already was.
"Let him go, Ichigo."
"But he's being a pain in the ass!"
With just a glare from Rukia, Ichigo listened, knowing she'd likely find a way to hurt him if he didn't.
"W-wait what!" Looking around, spinning in a circle, Orihime tried to find out what was being made a fuss about- she had since entered a conversation with Tatsuki about what movie they were planning on watching over the weekend. "Senna-chan likes someone?"
"IT'S NOT FAAAAIIIIIIRRRRR!"
"Come on, Asano-san, it's time for us to go," Mizuiro took his phone out, and began walking away. Sado followed, pulling Keigo by the collar.
"BUT THE PRETTY GIRLS NEVER LIKE MEEE!"
"I hear you, Asano-san." Their conversation could still be heard in the distance, especially Keigo's yelling.
"They're nice," Senna said nodding. "The loud one was too loud though."
"Tell me about it, I have to put up with it every day."
"You aren't the only one, Kurosaki." He spoke, finally. They all turned their heads to Uryu, who had been silent while the introductions were made. "He's a menace in the hallways."
"You can say that again, what I wouldn't do to get a chance to punch him out."
"That's not very nice, Tatsuki-chan!"
"Tell you what, Tatsuki- you can do it for me tomorrow."
"I don't need your permission, Ichigo!"
Rukia stayed silent the whole time, observing everyone. She liked to do that, observe others. Actions told her more than any words did. She could see Ichigo and Arisawa bantering. Inoue laughing nervously, trying to calm them down. Ishida staring at Inoue, while Senna held his hand, looking up at him. She...liked Ishida? She was always under the impression that she liked Ichigo, or at least had some feeling for him. Lifting her hand up to her chin, Rukia let out a sigh.
"Rukia, what's wrong?"
It was Senna, who broke her concentration, and her grip off of Ishida's hand.
"N-nothing. I was just thinking."
"Do they argue all the time?"
"You know just as well as I do that Ichigo likes to argue with everyone."
Rukia had a small smile on her face as Senna nodded and giggled. It was true. That Ichigo could be so hard headed.
"Rukia...do you think that...something's wrong with Uryu?"
"..." She looked over to the Quincy once again, trying to read his expression. He seemed less tense now that Senna wasn't holding onto him, but he still had an awkward stance about him. "I honestly can't say."
"I want him, to hold my hand. Like he does at night."
She looked at the other girl, and saw her eyebrows raise. A shocked expression was on her face. She had no idea why, but it was alarming in a sense.
"Like he does...at night?"
"Mhm. I...he won't be happy if I tell you everything, but he holds my hand. I like it. It makes me feel like everything is okay."
"You should simply ask him to then. I didn't know that's what Asano was yelling about- how he picked up on it, I'm still curious about."
"He doesn't seem very smart," giggling a bit, Senna hoped it would relieve some tension.
"I saw you earlier, grabbing onto his sleeve."
Senna wasn't listening anymore. Her eyes were transfixed on Uryu, who was frowning. She didn't hear Rukia try to get her attention, or Tatsuki threaten to beat Ichigo 'into next week.' She just saw him, his eyes looking like she never saw them before.
"Uryu.." she walked back over to him, and stood by his side once again. "You're okay, right?"
"I'm fine."
"Then...please...hold my hand."
She held her hand out beside her, indicating it was there for him to take. She watched his face, his eyes, move from her hand, back out in front of him, and back down to her hand again.
"I don't think I can."
"Pretend it's just us. I...I want to walk back with you holding your hand."
"O-Oh no! Tatsuki-chaaa~aan, we need to go! Ghost Bust is on in five minutes, and it's a new episode! I don't want to miss it! Bye, Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san, Ishida-kun, Senna-chan!" As she waved, everyone watched Orihime as she grabbed Tatsuki's hand, and began leading them to her apartment.
"See you guys, and THIS ISN'T OVER, ICHIGO!" Tatsuki yelled as she willingly followed her friend.
Once the copper hair was out of sight, Senna felt her hand being touched how she was used to every night. But she didn't think of it like that - she figured he was being shy.
After goodbyes, they all began walking in their opposite directions. Ichigo muttered to himself cursing Tatsuki. Senna looked to Uryu, trying to read his expression. Uryu remained silent, keeping his eyes straight ahead. Rukia looked back to watch as they walked away. She let out a huff of air, thinking about the simple act of hand-holding, and why it took him so long to hold her hand.
"Somebody's going to get hurt," she said as she turned back around.
"It's not going to be me!"
"Be quiet you, you're not who I'm talking about."
With one more glance over her shoulder, she closed her eyes and continued walking.