When morning finally came, Ichigo was the first to wake up. When he was able to get his senses together, he looked and saw he was in someone else's bed. He looked to the side and saw Emma's back turned to him with them sleeping in the same bed.
"Oh man." Ichigo said as he remembered all that happened last night with it all coming back to him. He had to check to make sure. That's why looked under the covers and also spotted their clothes all over the floor. Now that he was thinking with a clear head, he could see he had a problem here. The only thing he could think of doing, he just grabbed his clothes and left a note saying that says "See you later" just before he went out the door. Not really the smartest move.
...
Ichigo's Apartment
Ichigo just went straight back to his apartment, but he couldn't get what happened between him and Emma out of his head. When he shut the door, he pressed his back against it with him feeling regret, like an idiot, and maybe hint of guilty pleasure.
"There you are." Renji said when he noticed Ichigo came back. "I thought you were going to be home after the party at Emma's. What happened? What were you doing?"
"Emma." Ichigo said.
"Huh?" Renji questioned.
"I did Emma." Ichigo said. Renji really didn't know what to say.
"No... You slept with Emma? How did that happen?" Renji said.
"I don't know. We had a few drinks, we were talking, and one thing just went to another." Ichigo said. "You see that sort of thing happens in movies, but it's different when it happens in real life."
"Wow... Well, look at the bright side. Emma is great girl. Not to mention she's hot and fun to be around." Renji said.
"I know, but she and I work together. Plus, it's the fact that we are friends that it could get messy." Ichigo said.
"Depending on what you two did the other night, maybe messier." Renji joked.
"Would you quit with the immature sexual jokes and listen?!" Ichigo said as he was in no mood for playful banter. "I have a real problem here."
"Well, how bad could it be? You and she talked about it when you woke up, right?" Renji said.
"Well... Not exactly. I might have left a note saying I would see her later." Ichigo said.
"Aw! You idiot!" Renji said as even he knew that was a terrible idea. If Ichigo didn't think he had a problem before, he certainly does now.
"Something happened between me and Emma after my birthday party. Since it did, things were awkward between me and her for a while."
"Why was it awkward?" Kazui asked.
"Did you two end up having sex?" Ichika asked.
"I'm trying to keep this child friendly! All I can say is that we did something that altered the natural flow of our relationship. You'll get it when you're older." It was just as Ichigo said. Whenever the two of them saw each other at work, they didn't know what to say to each other. Talking about their situation after it happened would have been better, but the damage has been done. "Emma and I didn't know what to say to each other for while. It went on like that for about a week. I'll tell you what happened after that week."
...
One Week Later
Since Ichigo and Emma weren't really talking to each other, everything just went on normally for them. Even when Ichigo had to go down for copies, the two of them barely talked to each other. As Ichigo left the building, he spotted Renji with his own police car.
"What do you think of this bad boy?" Renji asked.
"I can't believe you actually have that." Ichigo said.
"Believe it. We'll get anywhere with this...as long as there's an actual emergency." Renji said.
"So, any idea what we're going to do for dinner?" Ichigo asked. However, he instantly stopped listening when he saw Emma walk out of the building as she was sorting through her purse. Seeing her made him so stiff, and seeing Ichigo like this annoyed Renji.
"Dude, just go up and talk to her." Renji said. "How long do you think you can keep avoiding her?"
"I don't know. It's just so awkward between us now." Ichigo said.
"That's because you were the idiot that got out of there without talking to her about it." Renji said. "You probably feel guilty now or something. Just go and actually talk to her about it now. You just had sex with her, not murder her puppy. It should be fine."
"I..." Ichigo still wasn't sure on what to do.
"Go!" Renji said as he reached his limit with this and gave Ichigo a good push in her direction. Ichigo took in a deep breath and decided that Renji was right. He went up to Emma and caught her before she could leave.
"Hey, Emma." Ichigo said as he sounded like a nervous teenager.
"Oh! Ichigo... Hi..." Emma said as she felt uncomfortable about this as he did. Neither of them knew what to say.
"Urgh... This is stupid. I'm just going to come out with it." Ichigo said. "Emma, I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Emma questioned as she was a little worried on what he was apologizing for.
"I shouldn't have just took off. I shouldn't have left that note. It would have been better to talk about this and get out in the air." Ichigo said. "We may have slept together, but I shouldn't have made you feel like you were just some one-night stand."
"Ichigo, I'm not mad or anything. In fact, it was rather nice." Emma said with her blushing now. "I guess I was more embarrassed than anything really. I've never been in a situation like this before and wasn't sure what to do."
"Same here." Ichigo said. "I didn't know what to do or say and that's why I left that day." Talking about this started to get them feel a little better about the whole thing.
"You want to come back over to my place and we actually talk?" Emma offered.
"Sure." Ichigo said as he didn't hesitate to accept and left with her while Renji was happy to see things were getting fixed.
...
Emma's Apartment
Emma and Ichigo talked on the way back to her apartment. Things were starting to feel like normal between the two of them again. It didn't even bother either of them they were going back to where the incident took place. Ichigo was in a good mood, but that all changed when he entered the place. It wasn't because of what happened there before. It's because of what's happening there now. He saw boxes and almost everything appeared to be packed.
"You want something to drink?" Emma asked as she went to the fridge.
"Hold on. What is all of this?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm...moving." Emma said as she came back around and gave him some water.
"Moving? To where?" Ichigo asked. "Please tell me this isn't because of what happened. If it is, we were just fixing things."
"It's not that. I'll be going away for school. I've got to be there in person now. It's practically mandatory." Emma said.
"Seriously? When do you leave?" Ichigo asked.
"In a few days." Emma said. "That's why I'm actually glad we did this. I was hoping to fix things between us before I left."
"How long will you be gone?" Ichigo asked.
"It's hard to say. I might be gone for months." Emma said. Ichigo almost couldn't believe this. Just when he was trying to keep Emma in his life, she ends up leaving. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this, but I can't really get out of it."
"I get that... I just can't believe you're actually leaving." Ichigo said.
"Me either, but there isn't much I can really do." Emma said. Just like that, things were getting awkward between them again. Ichigo might not like that she's leaving, but he wants to try and be supportive.
"Hey. How about we enjoy however much time we have together left? Let's not think about how unsettling this might be for us." Ichigo suggested. Emma liked the sound of that for it's just what they did.
"Hearing that Emma was leaving was a tough pill to swallow, but I was glad I was able to fix things between her before it was too late. Since she was leaving, we tried our best to enjoy whatever time we had together. Soon, came the day when she had to leave."
...
A Few Days Later
Emma and Ichigo arrived at the train station. All Emma had to do was get on that train and she was going to be gone for a long time with no way of knowing how long she'll be gone. Before the train leaves, the two of them got themselves ready to part ways.
"I guess this is it." Emma said. She didn't want to leave, but she stayed strong.
"Don't worry. Just look at this note." Ichigo said as he handed her one. It was actually the same note that said "See you later". She couldn't stop herself from laughing after she read that. "At least that's a good message this time. You'll be back before either of us know it."
"Thank you, Ichigo." Emma said. That was when the alarm went off and the train was going to leave soon. "Bye, Ichigo." Just before she got on that train, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran towards the train. Ichigo stayed until he saw it take off and Emma left him. He can only hope that he sees her again soon. At least he was able to fix things between her before it was too late.
"I can't believe Emma really left." Kazui said.
"Neither could I, but she had no choice. She had to go. Anyway, there was one good thing about her leaving. It was actually something she did for me."
...
The Next Day
Ichigo just went on with his regular days with Emma gone. However, without Emma to talk to, it made it harder to deal with what came from the job he hated. He hated what he did, but it was all going to change.
"Kurosaki!" Ichigo saw one of the guys that ran the whole building come up to him. Ichigo was expecting more work to do, but it was about something else entirely. "Listen, how would you like a different job?"
"Excuse me? Are you firing me?" Ichigo questioned.
"Nope. I'm talking about being promoted." His boss claimed. "Before Emma left, she came right into my office about an opened position we have. It was a little bold and daring of her, but she left me some paperwork and tried to convince me to give the job to you."
"Me?" Ichigo said as he knew nothing about this.
"Yeah. I looked it over and I think you're actually qualified for this position." His boss said. "You'll be paid more and it must be better than what you're currently doing. What do you say?" Ichigo was glad to hear that. He got out of a miserable job and got a better one. He owed all of it to Emma.
"I was feeling great that day. I was no longer an errand boy and I did work that was a little more important. It still wasn't anything too big, but I helped out and made sure everything was working well in the company. It was a step up for me and I had Emma to thank for that. That was also around the time my life made another turn." Ichigo left the building feeling good about himself. He stepped outside and was glad to see a change in his life. Just as he reached a corner, he accidentally bumped into a woman and caused her to drop her paperwork everywhere.
"Sorry about that." Ichigo said.
"It was my fault. I wasn't really watching where I was going." The lady said as she tried to get all the paperwork together and Ichigo helped her out. Ichigo looked at her and saw it was a pretty lady with light brown hair with some blonde highlights.
"Who is that?" Kazui asked.
"Is she the third girl?" Ichika asked.
"She is. For this story, we'll call her...Teresa." With the third girl revealed, maybe Kazui can figure out which one is really his mother.
