Author's Note

1. Some of the things in this story are different from the actual Bleach story, as you will find out when you get farther into the story.

2. I do NOT own Bleach or any part of it. Bleach is the sole property of Tite Kubo. If I did own Bleach, the storyline definitely would not be half as good, and I would've killed off half the characters, as well as adding some romance to the story.

1/29 - Friday

Ichigo awoke, feeling dead on his feet. He doubted any day could top the previous one. He ate breakfast, and set off for school. When he got there, and went to the place where Inoue usually hung out, she wasn't there. Isane, Yachiru, and Hisagi were there, however, and Yachiru was up against a wall.

"Hey that's my wall! Get off of it!" A female Shinigami kidded around.

"Your wall is flat!" remarked Yachiru.

"You're flat!" interrupted Isane

Yachiru detached herself from the wall and walked over to where Isane, Hisagi, and Ichigo were standing.

"Yeah, you're right. I probably am flat." Yachiru answered in reply.

A few more minutes passed, and Orihime still didn't come. All the sudden Ichigo felt like a hole was being bored in his chest, but instead of the usual emptiness associated with it, this one caused him great pain. It felt like he had been hit in the chest with a bowling ball. He made the awful actualization that all this was happening inside of him solely because of his friend Orihime Inoue. Ichigo made two realizations that morning:

1. He missed Inoue with a passion.

2. He was in love with her.

He Hisagi Orihime's phone number and had him text her, as Ichigo was not allowed to make phone calls due to the fact that he had gotten his cell phone taken away. Hisagi texted her saying : Ichigo's hair looks weird today. Ichigo did a face-palm and sighed. A few minutes later Ichigo and Hisagi got into a serious conversation.

"Hisagi, I miss Orihime so much!" Ichigo moaned, telling Hisagi his first, and then his second realization.

"I mean, how can you not like her, Shuhei? Even I'm falling for her and I have Rukia!"

"Whoever said I didn't like her?"

"Yeah, but if you really feel that way, ask her out. Are you shy or something? I mean, I know I am . . . "

"No, Ichigo, there's a difference between us. You're shy, I'm just too smart to try."

And with that, Ichigo and Hisagi went off to their classes. Ichigo's first exam was easy enough, but his second exam was absolutely brutal. It got to the point where as the bell rang, Ichigo still was not finished. The teacher was gracious enough to let anyone who did not finish stay after to finish, but they could not leave the room. Ichigo made an excuse about using the restroom, and went outside to hang out with his friends. As he went outside, he saw Rukia, along with her friend, walking to her bus. Ichigo hugged her in a surprise attack, and slid his hand gently in her grasp.

"Ichigo . . . I need to talk to you about something important." She paused. "I . . . don't want to go out with you anymore."

"Oh . . . well, I won't force you to do something you don't want to do. I just hope we can still be friends."

With Rukia answering yes, Ichigo ran at top speed back to where he and his friends hung out after school. He spotted Renji, and grabbed him around his neck on a whim. He quickly detached himself, and as he stood a few feet away, Ichigo saw Renji shift his body and aim a high kick at Ichigo's face, which he blocked. He thought Renji had been messing around, and was surprised to see Renji's other foot hurtling towards his face a split second later. It struck Ichigo square in the jaw, and he stumbled back a step, feeling a blinding numbness in his lower jaw line, which he knew would amount to serious pain in a short period of time.

"I don't like being grabbed, especially around the neck." Renji stated irritably.

A few moments afterwards, Ichigo's jaw was hurting like crazy, and he felt tears spring involuntarily to his eyes. Turning to Yachiru, who had been standing next to Renji the whole time, he said:

"You know what I really hate about fighting? When you're hit rather hard, your eyes start to water and it's so involuntary, not to mention that when it happens, people think you're crying."

Wiping the tears away from his eyes, Ichigo thought about Rukia. That was a big mistake. He felt like he was being run through by his own Zanpakutou.

"Renji, I think I'm about to cry."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ichigo. I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"No, it's not that. Rukia broke up with me a-fucking-gain." Ichigo said, bursting into tears, thankful that he had grown his hair long, as it partially hid his tears. But the tears eventually grew into sobs, and Ichigo could not control it anymore. He realized it was the first time in 3 years he had actually sobbed.

Note that this chapter is not completely typed up yet. I have a total of 11 chapters right now, but cannot find time to type them up, with school and such. Again, as I say every chapter, PLEASE review me.