Rayne Says: This is the promised chapter for BLEACH. And I have to say that this chapter was inspired and given to you on this date for a special reason. Today 3/14/12 is my second year anniversary with my boyfriend. So, sorry male fans, but I'm spoken for. He's the best guy in the world, and he inspires each chapter in a way. So the fluff in this chapter is not super big, but it's full of emotion (mostly good) and cuddling and such. The title is obviously taken from the song "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars.

Bold: Ichigo speaking internally or writing.

Just the Way You Are

IchigoxSakura

.:Ichigo's P.O.V.:.

It was a hot day in the classroom, and that was saying it lightly. The neck ties like nooses around the students' necks had been loosened, and would soon be removed for a short time during the lunch break. Ichigo Kurosaki was suffering in silence; both from the heat in the room with the broken air-conditioner and from the pink-haired girl in the seat next to him. From the corner of his eye he glanced at one of his closest friends, Sakura Haruno. She was scribbling down notes diligently and biting the corner of her lip. In the darkest parts of his heart, Ichigo wished that he could feel what they felt like and know what it was like to kiss his best friend.

He had been harboring this secret for a while now, and had yet to speak aloud of what he felt. It would complicate things. Not just their friendship, but also her safety in her absolutely human world. Sakura didn't know he was a shinigami and he wanted to stay that way. It was too late for Chad, Orihime, and many others, but not too late for her. Even if it meant he had to hurt himself to keep her unhurt, he would do it. For her. In the back of his mind he knew that he loved her, but all that he acknowledged was that what he felt for Sakura Haruno was more than just a friendly admiration.

Her hair fell over her shoulder, creating a pink curtain that divided her face from his gaze. It was a pity. She had a pretty face, and he never got tired of seeing it. Ichigo was almost holding his breath to keep from whispering a meaningless question at her so she would turn to look at him with those beautiful green eyes. Instead he felt a piece of chalk fly through the air and hit his head. He ignored the white dust covering his hair and turned his focus to the book following it.

"Oi, Kurosaki! Pay attention."

A feminine giggle emanated from the girl beside him and he groaned. Ichigo leaned back in his chair and tried to focus on the board. It wasn't working too well. His mind completely avoided the rambling of his teacher and instead focused on the few minutes before the bell would ring and he would be free to eat his lunch—which consisted of a juice box and some kind of fruit. He was also hoping that said lunch would not be interrupted by hollows and could instead be spent in the lovely company of the girl he was in lo-like with. He liked her…as a friend. Yes, as a friend.

A small scrunched up piece of paper landed on his desk. He unfolded it and looked down.

"Pay attention Strawberry. I don't have time to help you study."

"I don't need your help."

"Yeah you do and you know it."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not Pinky."

"You really want to fight this battle? Last time I kicked your ass."

"We were five!"

"Same difference. I always win."

"After school then. A little spar?"

"I can't. Sasuke and I have a date."

Ichigo tried not to grind his teeth at the mention of Sakura's boyfriend of four months. Something about the dark haired and eyed boy didn't sit well with him. Sasuke had an aura of power that reminded Ichigo of a hollow. He had tried to talk to Sakura about him, but she was in love with the guy. In fact, Sasuke had been demanded more and more of Sakura's time. He'd rarely seen her outside of school in the past month. It was annoying to not have full access to one of his friend, and he had a feeling that she was hiding something from him. It was a feeling that nagged at him at odd moments when he caught a look in her eye that shouldn't have been there—the look of fear. When he asked her about it, she'd laughed and shook her head like Orihime did when she was lying. Both girls were similar, and it was a wonder that they weren't friends, but Sakura said she couldn't put up with the other girl and left it at that.

"Some time later?"

"Sure. How about tomorrow?"

"Works for me Cherry."

"Pay attention Strawberry."

Sakura held onto the note and he was forced to try to pay attention again. The class passed, and it was all Ichigo could do to not look at Sakura every five seconds. A pain in the back of his head announced the presence of Ichigo's inner hollow, an unwelcome pain in the ass if there ever was one. The feeling in his own head was like oil leaking onto water. It was wrong and there was nothing he could do to get rid of the beast.

Ichigo and Sakura sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-

Shut up! I don't like her that way.

You LOVE her. How cute. Widdle Ichigo has a cwush.

I do not. Go away before I getsuga your ass to Hell.

Ima part of ya Ichigo and I wanna come out and play.

Ichigo was drawn out of his inner conversation by a tap on the shoulder. "Strawberry, it's lunch time."

"I knew that."

"I could tell by the drool pooling out of your mouth."

"Stop being a smart ass."

"You think I'm smart? That's so cute."

"You need to get your ears checked," he muttered.

"And you need to get your head checked," she replied, smiling as she brought out a bento box and broke apart her chopsticks. "What have you got today?"

"The usual."

"I swear, for being the son of a doctor you're seriously malnourished."

"I'm not malnourished."

"You are. I can feel the bones beneath your skin," she gasped, grabbing onto his arm and squeezing. The feeling of her skin on his was indescribable and he immediately wished that things were under different circumstances. As it was, he could only hold back his blush (because blushing was not manly at all and if anyone in Seretei heard about it they wouldn't shut up about it) and gently pry her hand off of his arm.

"Eat your food. You're the one who's malnourished."

"Sasuke says I could stand to lose a few pounds."

"That prick doesn't know what he's talking about. He wants a woman like Ino who is practically a walking stick." Apparently he'd said the wrong thing because she got a pained look in her eyes and averted her gaze from his. He bit the corner of his lip and ruffled his hair with a hand. "I didn't mean that you should be like that. You're fine the way you are."

"Gee thanks," she muttered.

He was about to begin a tirade on Sasuke and how the back of his head looked like a chicken's ass when said prick knocked on the door and came into the room. He smirked, because he was incapable of smiling, and nodded in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo barely managed a nod back because Sakura had that look of fear back in her eyes and he knew it was related to the chicken ass.

"Hey, I'll see you later," she said, looking at him before standing and linking her arms with Sasuke's.

"See you," he replied, watching her as Sasuke guided her out of the arm and they turned at the door. Something about that boy…

The next day turned out to be worse than the day before in regards to how much it sucked. For one thing, he was late to class due to a rampaging hollow and he had a feeling his hair looked particularly uncool. For another Sakura wasn't there. The seat next to him was loudly empty and he couldn't help the fact that his gaze was riveted on it for most of the day. After school he tried to text her, but she wasn't replying. It was unsettling. They hadn't gone a day without speaking before. Sure, he'd gone to Soul Society (which had horrible cell service, but he was actually surprised that his worked in the first place) and had been terribly busy rescuing Rukia and then Orihime, but they always talked. It was the one thing he could count on in the world. They would always talk. About nothing mostly, but they talked about everything from karate to kittens. It was their thing. Ichigo liked that they had a thing. He bet that Sasuke and she didn't have a thing.

He didn't even know what she saw in the guy.

It was probably just his looks, but he'd never taken Sakura for shallow before.

It really was weird that she wasn't texting him back.

Quite unSakura really.

Something must be wrong.

Or she was busy?

No. Something was definitely wrong. He could feel it.

Quite being a scaredy cat and go check on her. Ya know ya wanna.

Just because he was going to check on her didn't mean that his Inner Hollow was in charge. It just meant that they agreed on something for once.

The streets blurred by as he walked quickly to her house. It didn't seem right to outright run and startle the pedestrians because if he ran into someone he knew what would he say? Just running to Sakura's house to make sure that she's fine because he lo-liked her. Just running to check and make sure she hadn't turned into a zombie or lost her virginity to that damn Sasuke before him. Just running to be sure that she was still on the same planet as his so he could continue to observe her beauty from a careful distance to protect her from every bad thing out there. Yeah. He was just running for no reason at all. That's what he'd say. And so Ichigo Kurosaki ran to Sakura's apartment as quickly as he could.

He practically flew up the stairs and kicked down her door with his foot, but he managed to rein in the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him and pulled it together behind a calm face. He knocked three times on the door and called her name. Eventually the door opened and the chain was all that hung between him and her. "Sasuke?" she asked, her voice wavering in an unfamiliar way.

"No. It's Ichigo," he replied, quirking an eyebrow up. She usually didn't keep the chain up when she was home. She only did that before she went to bed.

"Oh, um, I'm sick. You might not want to come in. You'll catch it."

"Which is Sakura-speak for 'come in and fix me.' Come on, Cherry, I know you. You want me to make you some chicken soup or something, right?"

"Maybe."

"Open the door before I kick it open."

"You sure are violent," she said, the chain unlocking and then the door opening to reveal a pajama-clad Sakura. She looked tired and he immediately had to quell the urge to wrap her up in his arms and never let her go. A large yawn forced itself out of her mouth and she shivered as a draft came into the room. Ichigo pushed past her and closed the door. She threw him a glare and shuffled to the mattress on the floor.

"What do you have to eat?"

"Food."

"Fine. I'll look," he replied, opening a cabinet and peering inside. There were several cans of food and he looked closely at each one before selecting a few. Looking inside the fridge he found some vegetable and a chicken that looked like it was still good. He gathered the ingredients and grabbed a pot from the cabinet. Filling it with water and turning on the burner, he set the water to boil and grabbed a wash cloth to run under cool water. "This is for your forehead."

"I don't have a fever."

"Doesn't matter. It feels good either way," he said, setting it on her forehead. Her eyelashes fluttered under his gaze and he couldn't help but feel worried. She did look ill, and he picked up the wash cloth and then pressed his lips against her forehead without thinking. When he realized what he'd done a warm current rushed through him. "Oh, um, I was just taking your temperature."

"I have a perfectly good thermometer."

"Didn't want to look for it."

"Lazy Strawberry."

"Sick Cherry. Shut up and rest. I'm making you soup."

"You don't have to…"

"If I don't do it then you won't eat."

"I'll eat," she pouted, burying herself under the blankets.

"Good. Relax and let the master work."

There was a muffled reply from under the mound but he couldn't make out what she'd said. Deciding it was most likely something explicit he shrugged and returned to the soup he was making. It was turning out rather well, and he started on some studying while it cooked. After a suitable amount of time he tasted the soup and it actually was quite delicious. He poured a bowl for Sakura and a bowl for himself and added an iced cube to hers to cool it off. Walking back to her bed, he leaned down and poked the form.

"Mhmm?"

"Soup's done. Do you need me to feed it to you too?"

"No. I'm not that sick," she said, emerging from the blankets. Her hair was ruffled in a bird's nest. Her eyes were droopy. There was a little drool trailing from the corner of her mouth. Ichigo thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Good," he managed to force out, handing her the bowl. She offered him a smile and took it from him, taking a spoonful to her mouth.

"This is good."

"Don't act all surprised. You've tasted my cooking before."

"This is extra good though."

He laughed and had some himself. It was rather good. He'd outdone his bento box for her from the fifth year. He'd said that he'd had an extra and handed it off to her all cool like. He'd just liked her then. He lo-LIKED her now just more so. A strand of hair fell in her face and moved it away gently. Her green eyes met his and whatever breath had been in his lungs escaped. The only thought that crossed his mind was how good it would feel to kiss her lips. But her eyes fell down and she coughed into her soup and he had to pat her back to make sure she didn't choke.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine." Something about the way she said fine seemed more than forced to him. It was like a recited line. Something she had practiced a lot. It unsettled him and he had to shake his head to get the feeling out of his body. Sakura smiled up at him, oblivious to his inner turmoil, and held up her bowl. "Thanks Ichigo, you're the best."

"I know."

"You can go now that you're done taking care of me."

"I'm not done."

"What?"

"Obviously I have to make sure you're well taken care of. That Sasuke didn't come and make you soup or anything so he's a jackass."

At the mention of her boyfriend her eyes clouded over and he knew that he'd said something wrong. She just shrugged, offered that broken smile, and burrowed back under the blankets. It hurt something inside of him to know that something was hurting her and she wasn't comfortable telling him what it was. Sakura had always told him everything (well almost everything, he didn't want to know that gross stuff like when she got her period or whatever) and it was an unfamiliar thing to have a wall of silence between them.

Her eyes closed and her breathing softened, but Ichigo could tell that she was uncomfortable. "Maybe if you take your shirt off you'd feel better."

"You're a pervert."

"I'm just speaking the truth."

"No."

"I know you're wearing an undershirt."

"That doesn't make a difference."

"Take it off."

"No."

"Just take it off and feel better."

"No, Ichigo."

Something about the way she called him Ichigo and not Strawberry told him that something was under that shirt that she didn't want him to know about. "Sakura. Take it off."

"No."

Grasping the edges of her light blue long-sleeved shirt he pulled it up, with some difficulty from Sakura's flailing arms, and threw it on the floor. His victory was short lived. Underneath the fabric she'd been hiding something from him. Black, blue, and yellow bruises were blossoming on her hips and it was clear that she was in some pain. He didn't have to ask. Ichigo knew where those bruises had come from. "What did he do?"

"I-I fell. Clumsy me, you know?"

"God dammit, Sakura! What the hell did Sasuke do to you?"

"He didn't mean it."

"He didn't mean to punch you and leave bruises? That's bull."

"It's the first time."

"You've been acting like this for a while. I can tell it's not."

"Fine. It's the fourth time, but he only does it because he gets frustrated with me," she said, eyes downcast.

"That doesn't mean he's allowed to hit you! You deserve better than him. I'm going to find him and-"

"Don't go," she pleaded, her hand reaching up and grasping onto his wrist. She wasn't strong compared to him, but that stopped him. Inside he was a fury and he was barely holding back his Inner Hollow from gaining control and going to take care of the vermin that had hurt his Sakura. Outside he wiped the anger off of his face and managed to turn around. "Please Ichigo, don't leave me. I need you."

Something inside of him broke at those words. He had to be the bigger man now. Sakura need him here with her and not off breaking the neck of her abuser. There would time for that later. For now, he would stay with her and be there for her. Ichigo sat down beside Sakura and she looked up at him.

"Would you mind…sharing the bed with me? I need a hug right now."

He easily crawled onto the bed beside her. Her body melded against him and she was warm and soft and smelled just like he always imagined she would. He pushed the hair away from her eyes and she murmured something. Knowing the she found that soothing, Ichigo continued to rub her forehead with his thumb. She hazily turned around and burrowed into his chest, and he had a feeling that if she knew what she was doing she'd be embarrassed. His arms wrapped around her waist and his head rested on top of hers.

"Why do you think I let him hurt me?" she muttered.

"You didn't let him. He took advantage of you."

"I could have defended myself, you know that. Why didn't I?"

"Because you loved him," he said, practically grinding the words through his teeth.

"Yeah, and look how that worked out," she said, her words blurring together.

"You do crazy stuff when you're in love."

"How…do you…know?" she yawned, her head bobbing as she drifted in and out of consciousness. He could tell that she was fighting sleep, and it was kind of cute. In a Sakura way.

"Because I love you," he said, realizing only after he said it that she'd fallen into sleep's gentle grip. He did. He did love her and the delusions were torn away from him. He'd be better able to protect her if he stayed close. He could protect her from everything in his world and hers. And he would definitely kick Sasuke's ass to the Hollow world when Sakura was well enough for him to sneak off. Until then he would wait and be there for her to fall back on, because he had fallen for her. Ichigo Kurosaki loved Sakura Haruno impossibly, undeniably, and feverishly.

Rayne Says: Yes, I threw in that Twilight-ish sentence at the end because I felt like it. Hope you enjoyed and remember to review and suggest couples. I may be adding categories to this because I am expanding into new books and such. Every review you give me gets you a virtual cookie in return. So review, please?