I don't own Bleach.

Wrongly Reasoned Feelings

"We're here."

Michiru finally declared as they arrived at a small park with swings and a slide on one side and a small coffee house on the other from where the parents could sit while watching over the children playing.

It was currently empty, both playing ground coffee shop and the two teens made their way towards the swings.

Michiru hurried to sit on one while Ichigo chose to lean against the play-house structure, arms crossed as he watched her. She tried avoiding his gaze at all costs.

'Now what do I do? I've gotten us here, but now we're silent again…'

She realized she wasn't listening when she thought he said something about a pink elephant.

"Eh?"

"Finally listening, are you? I swear, you never seemed that aloof at school…"

"Go, gomen nasai…"

He sighed as he looked away, but then his expression softened a bit, still without looking at her.

"I was saying that if something happens to your mom, you should call my place."

Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

"We're closer to you than the nearest hospital, and if it's someone we know then billing won't be a problem… it is how Oyaji makes a living, though, so I don't know how much of a hard time he'll give me over it… at least he could give your mother a checkup, just to make sure she's not getting worse, or something."

She smiled softly at him, her cheeks already as red as they could get.

"Kurosaki-kun… really is a nice person. Worrying like that over my mother… and earlier, about your sisters, too…"

"It's not a big deal, really." He said plainly, making her look up in confusion. From the same reason, his frown deepened."Inoue said that too. Isn't it normal, though? Worrying about the people close to you."

A sad touch painted Michiru's thoughtful expression as she began swinging gently back and forth.

"Because it's the people closest to you, it's not normal."

He turned to look at her with interest, the frown gone, replaced by a gentle mask of concern as a reply to her soft, hushed voice.

"Because they're the people closest to you, you think you can do almost anything and get away with it. You take everything they give you for granted, never once thinking about what you can give back. The people closest to you… are the ones towards whom you act the most selfishly."

She raised her eyes to look at him, and found him gazing intently at her, a touch of gentleness in his eyes. As though on instinct, she began stuttering, shaking her head and her hands.

"Ah, but, I, er, that is, saying such weird things all of a sudden, I… ah!" She cried out as she was about to fall off the swing and he was halfway on his way to catch her when she took hold of the chains holding her sitting place.

Both sighed in relief.

"Don't scare me like that! If you're gonna thrash around like that, don't sit on something that unstable!"

"Ah ha, ah haha, ah ha…" She giggled embarressdly before her face became rather mournful.

"I really did say… some weird things…"

He sighed again, messing his hair in obvious frustration before calming down visibly.

"I don't know if they're weird or not, or even if they're right or not, but…" He looked at her rather kindly, the anger as though having dissipated. "…if it's true, than Ogawa's also a 'nice person'."

Blinking several times, Michiru waved her hands in front of her before settling them down in her lap, looking at them sheepishly.

"Hardly, I just… I just don't want to feel like I'm being a burden on my family…"

"Nonetheless, you're helping them out, right? They know they can rely on you, and you're helping out whether it's for them or for yourself. Even though your reasons are that selfish… no, I'd dare say –because- they're that selfish, you still doing it and being that honest with yourself… you're a much 'nicer' person than me."

All she could do was stare at him, utterly speechless.

"Tha, that's hardly…"

In an attempt to avoid father embarrassment she looked away, and her eyes widened when she spotted the coffee shop. Standing up in a hurry, she excuse herself before rushing off. With a sigh – and more than a bit confused – he sat down on one of the swings, pushing himself back and forth boredly with his feet on the ground.

Several minutes later Michiru came hopping back, her hands hidden behind her back.

"Close your eyes and reach out your hand."

He blinked.

"Huh?"

She blushed lightly, smiling in a rather foreboading way.

"Close your eyes and reach out your hand! It's a surprise!"

He sighed as he obliged, and was rewarded with a warm and slightly sticky object which was placed in his outstretched palm.

"You can look now."

Michiru declared as she sat on the swing next to him and he opened his eyes to find a chocolate muffin resting in his hand, the same kind as the one Michiru was munching on.

"I thought you said this morning you were broke."

She pouted in a hurt manner.

"One muffin won't kill me."

"Problem is – you bought two. Here…"

He reached into his pocket and extracted enough money to pay for both treats.

"Ah! Kurosaki-kun! That's too much! Besides, I was the one who asked you over here… in the first place."

She trailed off, finding her muffin extremely interesting.

"Take it. It's a man's job to pay for a woman."

Her blush deepened, as did her pout.

"That's one old way of thinking."

"Who cares about that, take it. Once you get your paycheck, if you still want to pay me back, do."

Seeing the serious look on his face, the girl nodded once and accepted the money.

Several minutes of silence then passed as the two finished their snacks before Michiru felt anxious, and her eyes caught the bag of sewing supplies now resting next to Ichigo's legs.

"Kurosaki-kun…"

"Hm?" He replied, a finger in his mouth as he sucked the chocolate off of it. The girl looked away with a flush.

"… what… kinds of clothes… does your sister make for her dolls?"

Upon hearing something resembling a whimper, she turned to him to find Ichigo staring at her, an odd smile on his lips, and apparently he had bitten onto the finger in his mouth. She blinked, slightly terrified.

"Kuro-"

But before long he seemed to relax completely as he laughed out – fullheartedly, innocently, honestly, so much that tears began welling in his eyes.

'He laughs… just like a child.' Michiru thought fondly as Ichigo went on explaining something about a cross dressing male lion plushy in tight sparkly pink dresses. Unable to help herself, she began giggling, and when the giggles escalated into soft laughter, Ichigo caught himself and looked away, scratching his reddening cheek. Once the girl had calmed down, she looked up at the sky as the sun almost finished setting.

"It's kind of weird, isn't it? The two of us, laughing like that…"

He glanced at her calm expression and then turned to the sky as well.

"Ah… kind of…"

Silence fell again and she studied his profile as he watched the stars.

The frown was there, though much gentler, and seemed to be merely a product of his thoughtful expression.

'He… really is…'

The blush didn't have a chance to come to her cheeks as he stood up quickly at the sound of the Hollow cry the girl next to him couldn't hear.

"Kurosaki-kun?" She asked, growing even more confused as he seemed to relax, having felt the Hollow's presence disappear next to where Ishida Uryuu's spirit force flared up.

"It's nothing…" He said plainly, but they both knew that the moment – whatever kind of moment they had between them – was broken.

"It's gotten late." Came the obvious as he picked up the sewing bag.

"Come on. I'll walk you home."

Nodding, she took her bag and stood up as well.

–

They made their way in silence, though Ichigo was awkwardly aware of a bush which had followed them since they left the park.

"Well, this is my house…" Michiru stated as they reached the small two-floor structure.

"Ano… thank you for walking me over." She said hesitatingly, avoiding eye contact.

"No problem. I hope your mom feels better soon."

She nodded at him with a soft smile.

"Like I said before, anything happens, give us a call, and I'll force my Oyaji to take care of your mother even if I have to kill him in the process."

Michiru giggled, making Ichigo raise an eyebrow.

"Hey, I was being serious!"

"Like I said, Kurosaki-kun sure is a nice person…"

"And like I said, stop saying tha—"

He was cut short as the girl rose to the tip of her toes and pecked his cheek. His eyes widened, as did Ryou's from her stalking place across the street, as did Chizuru's as she sprung out of the bush camouflage she had had on since they left the park.

Face flushed and at her mental limit, Michiru hurried to open the front door, uttering a quick 'good night' as she disappeared inside of the house. Ichigo stood there as though stuck, when finally a blush managed to rise to his cheeks, and in embarrassment and frustration, he pulled at his hair.

"Aaaah, MOU! If I wanted another sister I couldn't understand I'd have adopted Rukia! … de, sou da! What time is it!" Though his cheeks remained flushed, the rest of his face went pale as he realized it was half past seven – half an hour since that day's Kurosaki family dinner had started. Thirty whole minutes of his sisters and his father… alone…

"Oyaji-sense… tingling! Hang on, I'm coming, Yuzu, Karin!" Ichigo declared as he dashed on home, leaving a small trail of dust behind him, as well as the Sunflower bag. He glanced back once without slowing his pace, and shook his head violentally as he had more pressing issues to think about at that moment… or so he kept telling himself.

Ryou remained silent as Michiru came back out, picking up the discarded sewing materials and half hugging the bag as she stared after the disappearing orange haired figure.

"Knock if off, Chizuru." She eventually said, catching Chizuru right before she jumped off a nearby tree.

"Ryou's too mean! How can you understand this pain, this loneliness! I'll die, kill myself and put an end to it all! And then… I'll come back and haunt his sorry ass for the rest of his life! Ho yes! Buhahaha-ah?"

She cried as she nearly fell, clinging to the tree trunk. Ryou sighed.

"Hollow threats."

"Humph!"