Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Bleach. If I did, Ichigo and Rukia would be together already.
8:58 A.M. It was a Tuesday morning sometime in late April when Kunieda Ryõ walked to her desk in classroom 1-3 of Karakura High School and sat down. Out of habit, she sighed exasperatedly, waiting for one or another of her 'friends' to come over and greet her. When, after around five seconds, nobody arrived, she glanced up over the top of the large book she had decided to read that day. There was Mahana and Michiru, deep in conversation, both with wide eyes. Tatsuki stood a few feet away from them, an arm around Orihime's shoulders, speaking in a low, comforting voice. Ryõ rolled her eyes; another high school boy must be taken. She sat back more comfortably in her chair as the girls around her buzzed with gossip.
Ryõ was unlike the other girls in her class. While she had no problem talking to people if it was absolutely necessary, social interaction was not her thing. She would much rather curl up with a good book than spend time with the immature people she knew. Being around them annoyed her, set off a silent alarm in her head that made even the most silent of whispers seem like yells.
"NANI!"
"IT"S TRUE! STRAIGHT INTO ICHIGO'S HOUSE!"
But then again, with people like Chizuru and Asano around, it might actually have been yells in the first place. Before Ryõ could hide, the most loudmouthed member of her group ran over to her.
"Isn't that crazy!" Ryõ looked up towards Chizuru.
"Isn't what crazy?" Chizuru actually shuddered with excitement and for the first time in a very long while didn't even notice Orihime sitting five feet behind her.
"A truck crashed into Kurosaki's house last night! And it just drove off! And nobody got hurt! And-" Ryõ stopped listening, clutching her temple. She took a quick look around the classroom to confirm the story. Yes, Kurosaki was noticeably not there. The bell shrilly rang and Chizuru walked off, still babbling on about trucks and houses and orange-haired boys who were always trying to steal her 'Hime'.
Ryõ was the only girl to take out her geometry book when the teacher walked into the classroom, still pale after hearing what had happened to one of her students, no matter how much she disliked that Kurosaki. She was the only one to pay any attention the next period, correcting the teacher when Ochi confused an aspect of ancient Greek history for that of a Roman one. She was one of the few not talking about Kurosaki on the way to her third period home economics class, a disinterested look on her face.
Fourth period came and Ryõ walked into the locker room to change into her gym uniform. While her friends were still talking about the incident, it was in calmer tones now, as if the story was becoming old news.
And when Ryõ walked outside into the chilly spring day and saw Kurosaki laughing off what had happened with his friends, a little pale but whole and sound, she let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding.