A/N: This is just a series of one shots to-add onto what is going on in the main series or stuff I cut out from it but didn't have the heart to delete. Do you need to read the main series? Do you need to read The Millennial Curse to know what's going on? Not really... but it would be weird given the context.

This story will always be complete and will be updated randomly.

Summary: After attending the engagement party of a close friend, Tatsuki wants to know the truth to why Ichigo's previous relationship didn't work out.


Ichigo was quiet the whole drive back to the hotel. Not that Ichigo was a chatty person... in fact, they could spend hours together in silence and still feel comfortable. That's one of the benefits that came with keeping your childhood friends this long. But today was a strange day for Ichigo to be quiet.

Tatsuki stared at him as he focused his eyes on the road. The bowtie that was tied around his neck was now hanging on for dear life as he drove. Tatsuki insisted on driving back since they were taking shifts but Ichigo claimed he wanted to drive back. They were initially planning to stay the night in Kyoto but Tatsuki had work in the morning so they agreed to take turns driving back.

It was a little past 1am and they had only been driving for almost an hour. As much as Tatsuki trusted him to drive them back and eventually take her shift, this was bound to take a toll on them. They had been up since the morning with no rest because of the festivities of the day. Both of them were exhausted and forcing that exhaustion was bound to end in disaster.

"What route are we taking?" She asked

"The one to Nagoya." He answered

"Huh? I thought we were taking the road without tolls." She said

"I didn't want us to be stuck in traffic." He claimed.

Tatsuki blinked at him. "In the middle of the night?"

"That route is longer and we'll probably get stuck in traffic near Shizuoka when the morning rush starts." He clarified.

Tatsuki sighed. "You know what? This isn't worth it." She pulled up her phone and started to browse. "What's the nearest town to us right now?"

"Komono, I guess." Ichigo said

"I'm checking for a motel." Tatsuki said. "We'll continue in the morning."

Ichigo was confused. "Don't you have work?"

"I'll call in. I told them that I won't be able to but they wouldn't listen. Now, it's none of my business." She said and for what was probably the first time that night, Ichigo chuckled. It was curt and short but it was one nonetheless.

"I hope you don't get fired." He said

"Me too man." She said. "I need to afford rent this month. I have 300 yen in my bank account."

"Same." He laughed.

"I say we get a motel man. I have some cash on me so I'm not broke broke." She said

"I can cover you." He said. "I have a debit card to old goat chin's account. I never use it though but there's a first time for everything."

"Why don't you use it?" Tatsuki asked as she scrolled through her phone. "It's not like your dad is a terrible person."

"I'd rather he save it for the twins. It has nothing to do with him... this time, at least." Tatsuki snorted.

"Give me a second while I look for a place. In the meantime, you can start looking for exits." She said

"I know how to drive." He said

"I was just telling you." She said

"And I'm pretty sure I know how expressways work." He retorted

"Quit acting like a baby and drive. The fuck?" She scoffed.


It was a dodgy little motel but at 1700 yen per night, it was the best they could do. After visiting two different places only to find that they don't accept card payments, they finaly found one. The little reception area where a woman was manning the booth. "Can we have a room please?" The woman nodded before heading off to the back to get keys.

"Wait... why not two?" Ichigo asked

"We're both broke and I'm going to owe you. We can split the money for one." Tatsuki said

The woman came back. "Wait... is it possible to get a room with two single beds?" Tatsuki asked.

"We don't have any rooms with single beds here. Besides... Doesn't a married couple share a bed?" The woman asked in a monotone voice and Tatsuki looked confused and baffled. What the—

"My wife is a little angry at me. It was a long drive but we'll sort things we out." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and Tatsuki looked bewildered. "We'll try not make too much noise once we sort things out. Thank you." He winked with a suggestive grin before taking the keys and leading her away.

"Your wife? Noise?!" Tatsuki choked out and Ichigo laughed at the expression on her face. She turned red faced in anger. "Haha, Strawberry-kun. You are so funny."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see how you would react." He said as he dropped his arm from her shoulder as he searched for the right room number.

"Haha, hilarious." She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend as if you didn't like it for a second... the idea of being married. Not to me of course."

"Yeah right..." He scoffed as he found the door and inserted the key in the lock

"Maybe deep down... you wished it was you tonight." Tatsuki treaded very lightly on the subject. She did not want to force him to say anything but it has been over two years. He must've been tired of keeping it in.

"... not really." He succeeded in opening the door before dropping the duffel on the floor. "This place looks nasty."

"It will do for 1700 bucks." She sighed before going over to the bed and gently lifting the cover. "Damn... the amount of petri dish specimen here must be insane."

Ichigo looked confused before understanding her joke and gagging in disgust. "Yuck!"

"You really think this place costs 1700 and no one takes advantage of it for a little quickie?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him but the orange haired man gagged. "So prudish." She laughed before taking all the pillows and dumping them on the floor to properly inspect the bed. "We'll sleep on the floor then. How does that sound?"

"Anywhere here sounds like a death sentence." He rolled his eyes. "So... whose going into the bathroom first?"

"I definitely need to shower and get out of this dress." Tatsuki winced as she tried to reach behind her to get the zip and pull down the dress. She was wearing an awful dress that was an ugly fuschia colour but in no way was she going to disappoint her friend at her engagement party. She moved around quite a bit, trying to find an angle to reach the zip and Ichigo got annoyed watching her.

"You're making me dizzy." He scowled before reaching over and doing it for her.

Tatsuki appreciated the help but couldn't pass off an opportunity to tease him. "How lewd!" She gasped dramatically. "You couldn't even wait! Tried to take advantage of me at my most vulnerable—"

Ichigo turned red with anger. "Just go shower." He groaned before sitting on the floor amongst the pillows.

"Prude." She teased him.

"Whatever." He said.

"In a matter of fact... when was the last time you got it on?" Tatsuki asked. "Don't tell me this whole time you've been single had just been you and your brooding thoughts."

"Why are you still here?"

"Humour me."

There was silence and Ichigo sighed. "Yes."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "We need to get you some pussy. Stat!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I have better things to worry about."

"There were a lot of hot girls at the party." Tatsuki said, fixing her hair up.

"I really didn't notice." Ichigo said

"Why? Because of Orihime?" This time, his glare shut her up and she wilted, realising she got too carried away.

"I'll... go now." She said before going into the bathroom.


After a long hot shower, she finally came out and Ichigo quietly went in after her. She sat at the foot of her bed and started to browse through her phone. She felt horrible after that comment. But at the same time, she was pissed at him. He was holding in all this sadness and it would only affect him. She decided that tonight was time to end it. Ichigo came out, coughing because she finished the hot water. "Good God, when you shower, are you boiling yourself alive?"

"It's not like you like hot showers." Tatsuki claimed

"After a long night, I would have appreciated it. My muscles hurt." He winced.

"Want me to perform acupuncture on you?" She asked

"You want me to let you next to me with needles?" He asked incredulously and Tatsuki laughed.

"Fine, how about a back rub." She offered

"You'll break my spine like a twig." He said

"Fine, suffer." She said before huffing and looking through her phone.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Ichigo asked as he moved over to the front of the bed where she sat on the carpet.

"Too much energy." She claimed.

"Just don't try to break my back..." Ichigo sighed in defeat and Tatsuki grinned before putting her phone down.

"Lie down." He followed her instructions and lied down on his stomach on the carpet. Tatsuki moved to straddle him, feeling around for tension.

"This carpet is disgusting." Ichigo muttered into the carpet

"Really?" Tatsuki finally found the spot and dug her fingers in

"I'm probably inhaling spor—ow! Good God!" He groaned at the feeling of his shoulders cracking and Tatsuki laughed.

"Was that too tough?"

"No... that actually felt really good." He admitted with a moan

"See? You should trust me more often." She said.

Ichigo sighed as she continued to dig around his back muscles. They sat there in silence until Ichigo looked up. "What were you doing?

"... I dunno. Scrolling through stuff?" She mentioned. "I'm a phone addict."

"Do I call cellphone anonymous?"

"... Indeed." Tatsuki said. "In fact, a rehabilitation centre so I can get free meals and sleep all day." Ichigo chuckled. "It's nice to hear you laugh tonight." Ichigo's smile fell and he immediately frowned.

"I think you've got everything." Ichigo said before rolling over and sitting up. Tatsuki was still straddling him around the upper leg region so once he had sat up, they were face to face with each other.

"Well, this is an interesting position to be in." Tatsuki mentioned jokingly. "Interesting scenarios we've run through already, don't you think?"

"With the way you put yourself in these scenarios makes me think that you are trying to get my attention." Ichigo joked back

"In your wildest dreams, you orange haired punk." She said before getting off of him. They rearranged themselves by sitting next to each other by the foot of the bed with their backs pressed against it.

"Look, I know you're avoiding my questions and it's probably pissing you off right now but you're pissing me off too. Ichigo, how long have we known each other?" Tatsuki asked

Silence.

"Fine. Don't tell me." She reached into his backpack, much to his surprise and pulled out a notebook and a pen. "Let me figure it out."

"Did you just—"

"Yes." She said before ripping out a page and drawing four lines on it

"Hangman?" He asked

"You decide." She said. "One word describing why Orihime broke up with you. Either I guess the whole word or I guess the reason. If I'm wrong and I run out of guesses, I'll never bother you again."

"Tatsuki, I'm really ti—"

"We were just at her engagement party and you've been acting like a zombie the whole time!" Tatsuki tsked at him. "I'm guessing you think you've moved on but... come on."

Ichigo looked at the paper and then looked at her before sighing and putting down four lines.

"Is that... hirugana or kanji or—"

"Roman letters." He clarified.

"Then that's a short word." She said.

"You wanted this." He said.

"Okay... A." Ichigo drew a head. "E." The torso came on. "I." Finally, he wrote I as the starting letter. "Okay, I'm getting somewhere." A four letter would starting with an I... she thought. "You lied to her." He drew a leg.

"How the hell did you get 'lie'?" Ichigo laughed in sheer amusement

"It's a short word!"

"It's three letters and it starts with a u." He snorted.

"You know I sucked at language classes." Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "We never used roman letters anyways outside of English class."

"Keep struggling." He said and Tatsuki sighed, scratching her chin.

" M." A leg was added.

"Two more chances."

"I thought we were playing with the face." Tatsuki pouted.

"My game, my rules."

"But it's my game." Tatsuki retorted.

"Not anymore."

"Fine. No face. N." An n was written at the end and Tatsuki frowned. "Does that even exist?" She sighed. "Uh... O." There was only one letter left. "This is hard... ikon? ipon?... She felt you were not at your fullest potential and dumped you."

"Good guess but one, that's farfetched as fuck and two, ippon is two p's." He drew the next leg. "One life line for one letter."

"Damn..." She hummed. What the hell could this be? Iton? Iwon? "Izon?" He filled in the final letter. "Dependence? She broke up with you... because of dependence?"

"Technically, I broke up with her..." He admitted. Tatsuki was now incredibly confused.

"But... why?" She asked. "Don't tell me you felt you were being tied down or some—"

"No. Not that..." He said. "I just... it's hard to explain."

"... If you don't want to—"

"No. I was really hesitant before but now, I really think I should." He insisted before laughing and Tatsuki was confused. "Our relationship was... pretty okay for the most part but... Orihime couldn't think for herself or wouldn't allow herself to if you get what I mean."

Tatsuki frowned... not at what he said exactly but at the fact that she understood what he meant. She loves Orihime and she is her best friend but Orihime had a way of depending on others despite what she herself wants or desires especially when she feels indebted to that person. Tatsuki had to remind her all the time to do whatever the hell she wanted so she could only imagine Ichigo got fed up with it.

"You have to understand where she's coming from." Tatsuki sighed. "She only had herself for such a long time so it was always a relief if someone was just there next to her."

"I know... and that's the problem." He sighed. "You know how I am. I protect the people I care about. I want them to be happy and safe... but for Orihime, she may have been safe with me... but I don't think she was going to be happy.

"Before we started university, all her decisions relied on how I felt about them. She told me she hated Tokyo because big cities made her uncomfortable once but when I told her I was moving to Tokyo for university, she was suddenly enthusiastic and wanted to move with me. I asked her about her plans and she said she didn't know... as long as she was with me. You know how bad it is if I have to be the logical one in any situation."

"So you had to convince her not to move with you to Tokyo." Tatsuki said

"Yeah. She had no plans and while I absolutely had no issue with that because people don't always know what they want, the problem here isn't that she couldn't figure it out but that she didn't want to think of an alternative outside of being with me. Then she found a nursing school in Shizuoka that met her finances, kept her out of bigger cities that made her uncomfortable and still let her do what she loved which was taking care of people. " He said. "I remember she came to visit me back when I was living on the other side of Harajuku before we moved in together. It was a nice thing to have her around but I remember getting home and being pissed that some kids vandalised my bike. You know how hard it is."

"Definitely. In fact, I would have fucked them up." Tatsuki said

"Right. So I was pissed and I just said that if that's what having kids is like then I don't want any. I brought it up as a joke and she asks me if I want to have kids in the future. I honestly told her maybe 1 if I'm stretching it but that's it... maybe even none at all if I can control it and she agreed and said she didn't want kids either.

Tatsuki was confused. "But... Orihime has always wanted a big family. That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, I didn't know and I didn't even think much of it either. A few months later, we're visiting her extended family in Sapporo. Orihime and one of her cousins go out to the store on an errand and I'm at home with her aunt and uncle." He continued.

"The one who support her financially?" Ichigo nodded.

"So they're asking me questions about what my plans are and what I'm currently doing. I tell them I'm at Todai studying medicine and they were impressed, asking me if I had plans for the future with her. They asked me what I thought of marriage and I told them that when I'm stable then I would definitely consider it. They told me that Orihime was lucky she found someone willing to start a family with and her aunt started commenting on how cute our kids would be. I was confused because Orihime said she didn't want kids. They were just as confused as I was because she told them she wanted a really big family.

"We head back to Tokyo and I ask her again, does she want kids or not and she says no, she doesn't. I lie and I tell her that I've changed my mind and that I want a big family. She asks why and I say that I was pretty annoyed when I talked about not wanting kids. Then she says that a big family sounds nice and she wouldn't mind. I told her that 'Don't tell me what you mind and don't mind... tell me what you want' and she says she wants whatever I want and it isn't a good thing if we aren't on the same page. Now I'm getting pretty annoyed because we're going in circles and I tell her that us being on the same page doesn't mean I say do this and she says okay. It means that if there is something we don't agree with, we talk it out and reach a compromise. That's the whole point of relationships.

"Then she admits that she has always wanted a lot of kids but didn't want to say in case I took offence to that. I mention that it doesn't make sense because she just said she didn't want kids and now she really wants them, and she admitted she just didn't want to make me uncomfortable. I was pretty pissed after that but I didn't want to scare her or get mad so I put off the conversation until the next day. I asked her why she feels the need to lie about what she wants. At this point, it wasn't even about whether we would have kids or not if we ever got married. It was about how she didn't want to make any decisions for herself. She tried to tell me that she's only trying to make me happy and not start a fight but it was such a silly thing. Telling me that you want to do shouldn't start an argument or a fight if we can work it out because now I'm under the impression that I'm forceful and unreasonable and that's stopping her from doing and saying what she really wants. Then she got all upset and said that she didn't want me to leave her in case she did something I didn't like because she can't imagine a life without me in it."

"Oh..." Tatsuki commented.

"I always knew she had a low self-esteem and didn't believe in herself but I would have expected that being with someone who actually does believe in her would mean that she should as well. That comment really bugged me." Ichigo sighed. "She lost all her family when she was young and her losing her brother was the biggest blow. I get that feeling that you're going to end up losing someone very important to you. That's why I always protect the people I care about. But that was unhealthy as hell. I love my sisters to death and I'd put my life on the line for them but I'm not going to dictate their lives or mould mine to suit theirs. I know it doesn't count because we're family but that's just the mentality I have. I want the people I care about to live freely and happily... not to live in constant fear. I have never been the type of person to tell someone what to do because I know I get pissed when someone tells me what to do. But when I looked back on my relationship with her, it was basically me telling her what to do even when it had nothing to do with me because she couldn't decide."

"So... you broke it off with her?"

"... She said that she couldn't imagine a life without me in it but honestly, she needed to." He said. "Orihime is much more than what she thinks of herself and she needed to see that for herself. I don't want to wake up twenty years from now with her hating me because she didn't take time to understand herself which caused me to force something she didn't want on her."

Tatsuki sighed. "Did you intend on getting back together with her at some point?"

"I was convinced that whatever happens happens but regardless of that, she needed to grow on her own." He said.

"... Now she's engaged." Tatsuki sighed. "After hearing that, I'm hoping she made the right decision and didn't just latch onto someone else instead. They were only together for a year."

"I actually think Uryū is a pretty good option." He admitted much to her surprise. "He's a pretty chivalrous guy and one thing I know is that he bends backwards too for people when they want one thing and he doesn't want to say otherwise, mostly to appear cool. I know Uryū really cares about her. I think she's in good hands."

"But... do you regret your choice?" Tatsuki asked

"Sometimes, I wonder if things would have been different if I didn't break up with her. Would talking be enough or would she need professional help or would it just be a cycle? Would I have become frustrated and intolerant? Or would things have... worked out." He said. "I think about it pretty often but at the end, the only thing that matters is her happiness and if she finds true happiness outside of the security and overdependence she had with me then I made a good decision." Tatsuki hit him on the shoulder. "Ow! What the fuck?" He was taken by surprise when Tatsuki placed her head on her shoulder and hugged his torso.

"You self righteous dumbass... why can't you be happy and selfish?" She grumbled in annoyance and he chuckled. "Even just once?"

"I don't know..." He admitted, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I really don't..."

Tatsuki looked up at him. "Thanks for trusting me by telling me."

"I think it goes without saying that if you tell anyone—"

"I know, Strawberry-kun. Now, hush! You're ruining the moment." She rolled her eyes and he laughed. They stayed silent for a moment and Tatsuki looked up. "Hey... by the way, this entire story and not once did you say the word love."

Ichigo sighed. "I guess I didn't."

"Did you... not love her or do you not believe in love?"

"I... believe that love is irrational." Ichigo said. "My dad made a lot of sacrifices to be with my mom and my mom made a huge sacrifice to protect me. But at the same time, being irrational is devoid of responsibility and I know I'm not one to talk about being responsible—"

"You used to run around with a giant sword instilling justice everywhere at 16—"

"Shut up!"

"Oop!" Tatsuki mocked him with a laugh and he rolled his eyes

"As I was saying... love needs responsibility and that's why I use care. Because when you care for someone, it encompasses many things like love." He said

"You know someday, you're going to make a girl very happy and she's going to make you happy too." Tatsuki said. "But that isn't going to happen if you stay at home playing video games in your underwear."

"Seriously?"

"With that miso soup stain on your vest from last week because you can't eat for shit." Ichigo pushed her away.

"I'm going to bed." He said as he stood up and went over while Tatsuki laughed at him. "Goodnight."


"Ugh! I'm so glad that's over." Tatsuki sighed as she packed up the tuxedo and dress they were wearing the night before. It was finally morning and the two got washed up and ready to hit the road again. They argued over one taking up too much space and the other snoring through the night. Then they argued about who should shower first; Ichigo ultimately winning because he locked her out of the bathroom. Then after that, they argued about what route to take home; which Tatsuki won after reminding him that both of them were broke as hell and toll booths don't accept card.

Now, they focused on packing up their stuff before another argument over who is driving back would break out. "That doesn't sound like a good thing to say about your best friend's engagement party." Ichigo said as he also worked on getting all their toiletries from the bathroom.

"I'm all happy she's boo'd up but that dress wasn't doing anyone any favours." Tatsuki gagged at the thought of the dress she had to wear.

"Really?" Ichigo stepped out of the bathroom and stood next to her by the bed as she packed the duffel to put in the toiletries bag.

"That dress was horrible." She shivered at the memory.

"Isn't the point of the best mates dressing worse so that all eyes are on the bride?" He said

"Fair... but that dress was a war crime." She said and he laughed. Tatsuki was silent as she packed, only to be surprised by Ichigo leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"That's a damn shame because I thought you looked pretty good." He said.

"Wait... what?" She questioned as he pulled away. He looked amused though and Tatsuki narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh ha ha. So funny."

He turned around. "I'll be checking on the oil and the tyres before we leave." He said as he went for the door. "And I never joke about things like that." With the, he left, leaving Tatsuki to be confused as she stopped packing the bag to stare at the door but he was already gone.