Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed this story! I appreciate it. (:

I don't know how long this story will go but I'm hoping it'll just be under 10 chapters.

Anyways, here's chapter two~


Lunch hour did not take long to arrive for everyone. Time went by pretty fast for the first day of school.

Tatsuki Arisawa was now looking around for Orihime who suddenly went missing after she said that she will just use the bathroom. Tatsuki checked all of the restrooms of the school but she failed to find Orihime in any of them.

Where did that girl run off to? Tatsuki thought.

Just then, one of her close friends approached her, "What's wrong Tatsuki?"

She turned around to see a petite girl with raven colored hair and large violet eyes. "Oh, hey Rukia," Tatsuki smiled. "I was just looking around for Orihime, she said she was going to the bathroom but she hasn't come back yet and it's been more than 10 minutes."

"Really now? I saw her going up to the school's rooftop just a while ago," Rukia told her.

Rooftop? What could she be doing up there?

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Orihime was leaning on the tall fence that surrounded the roof and watched the other students who were having their lunch below. She thought about what happened this morning and sighed to herself.

I feel terrible, I didn't know things for Kurosaki-kun were like that…

"Uh, I appreciate the offer, Inoue, but I don't really need your help," he told her. Ichigo was going to be late for his next class, and he didn't want to deal with this, so he grabbed his bag and left the room as quickly as he could. He could care less about how that girl would feel.

"He's a tough guy to get along with," Ms. Hiroshima finally spoke after the long awkward silence.

Orihime looked at her, "Why is Kurosaki-kun like that Ms. Hiroshima?"

Ms. Hiroshima adjusted her glasses, "He's been like that ever since the day I met him. Back during his freshman year and being the assistant guidance councilor, seeing kids alone just saddens me, so I would always ask him to visit me because I wanted to know why he would always get into fights and why he was always alone."

Well, come to think of it, since the day I saw Kurosaki-kun, I never seen him with anyone…

"At first, he didn't tell me anything but after a few more visits, I found out that his mother passed away when he was young," Ms. Hiroshima said.

Orihime felt like her heart dropped to her stomach. She never knew Ichigo lost his mother at such a young age. She could imagine all the pain he probably went through since she herself knew what it was like to lose someone you loved.

"I guess his mother's death had a big impact on him as he grew older," Orihime said quietly.

"It sure did, these kinds of things usually affect them when they get older, and he did tell me once before that he doesn't like troublesome people."

"Oh, I see…no wonder he rejected my offer so easily."

"Well, I'm sure that will change, Ichigo is a good guy, he may not seem like it though since he's always scowling. All he needs is someone to help him open his eyes and show him what he's missing," Ms. Hiroshima smiled.


"There you are!" a female voice exclaimed.

Orihime turned around to see Tatsuki walking towards her and Rukia following.

"Tatsuki-chan, Rukia-chan, what's wrong?" Orihime asked surprised.

"'What's wrong?' I was waiting for you but you didn't come back!" Tatsuki complained.

"And what are you doing up here alone anyways?" Rukia asked as she looked around the deserted rooftop.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wanted to think about stuff and I thought this was the best place to think."

"Think about what Orihime?"

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Ichigo walked alone, as usual. He was glad that the first day went by fast. He never had the feeling of wanting to be home already, today was a first. His encounter with that Orihime girl from earlier made him dread to go to school the next day. They were in the same class and he would have to see her every day.

"I'm home," Ichigo called out as he took off his school shoes.

"Ah! Welcome home Ichi-nii!" Yuzu smiled. "How was the first day?"

"It was…alright, I guess," he sniffed the air. "Fish?"

Yuzu nodded, "I haven't made fish in a long time so…ah! It's almost done, too," she made her way back to the kitchen.

Fish was Ichigo's least favorite dish. He didn't like removing the small bones as he tried to eat. It was always such a hassle for him; you'd have to be careful if you don't want to be swallowing fish bone. He saw Karin, whose eyes were glued to the television as she watched her daily dose of anime.

When he arrived in his room, he got out of his uniform and changed into a loose shirt and a pair of sweats. He lazily dumped out the stuff from his bag onto his desk and searched for the homework that he needed to do. Math wasn't so bad but he had a hard time with the History homework, oh how he hated the history subject…

Ding-dong

Hmm, must be one of Yuzu's friends who—

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu called from downstairs. "Someone is here for you!"

Huh? A visitor? For me? What the hell would someone want with me at this time of day?

Although Ichigo didn't want to go downstairs, he forced himself to since it must have been Ms. Hiroshima or something, and if he didn't show up for her, she would probably annoy him for the rest of the week about how rude he was for not coming down to greet her.

As soon as he reached the bottom step, he saw a girl with auburn hair sitting next to Karin who was still watching television.

What the hell is she doing here? Ichigo thought.

"Ichigoooooooo! Who was at the door?" Isshin asked, but he stared at the girl who was now approaching Ichigo with a smile on her face.

"Ahe," Orihime scratched the back of her head. "Hey, Kurosaki-kun, sorry to bother you again."

"It's uh, not a problem but, what do you want?" Ichigo asked in a low voice, not a good time to arrive at his house since his whole family is here. They would probably bother him after she leaves.

Ichigo received a punch in the gut from his father, "Ichigo! That's not a nice way to talk to a lady!" Isshin scolded. Ichigo was already irritated with that Orihime girl showing up at his house and now he had to deal with his annoying father. He wanted to know how she found out where he lived but one person came in to his mind: Ms. Hiroshima.

Ichigo sighed, that woman…

"What was it you wanted from my idiotic son, uh…pretty lady?" Isshin asked.

"Oh! My name is Orihime Inoue," she bowed quickly and smiled. "I was just here to invite Kurosaki-kun to a party this weekend at my place."

A party?

"A party, you say? I think Ichigo will like—" Isshin was saying but was interrupted by Ichigo. "I'll think about it," Ichigo told her.

"Oh, alright, well, if you want the directions to my house, it's just a couple of blocks away from here so…" Orihime was starting to feel the awkward aura that was rising in the room. Maybe it was a bad idea for her to come here? She could see it in Ichigo's face that he clearly didn't want to do anything with her but…some part of her wanted to go on and help him try to make friends. She wanted to help him no matter what. "I guess, I should go now," she headed for the door, "Thanks for your time and see you in school, Kurosaki-kun!"

And she was out the door.

3…2…1…

"My boy!" Isshin headlocked his son, "I didn't know you had it in you! I'm surprised that beautiful girl came to see you!"

"Let go of me!" Ichigo struggled to get free from his father's lock. Can this day get any worse for him? Come on!

"You know," Yuzu said as she prepared the table, "I think you should go to that party Ichi-nii."

Ichigo looked at his little sister—she resembled their mother so much, "Why do you think so?"

"Well, you're always stuck in the house and I think it's time for you to go out and have a social life," she told him.

"Yuzu's right son," Isshin finally released him. "Why don't you take the chance and try to meet new people? Stop being so alone all the time."

Ichigo looked at the both of them. Maybe it was time for a change…geez, that Orihime girl is just—

"I think you should go too, Ich-nee," Karin finally spoke. She looked at him with warm eyes despite her poker face expression. "I miss seeing you smiling; I think that girl is a good influence to you."

You too, Karin? Ichigo thought to himself.

After a moment of silence, Ichigo spoke, "Alright, I'll go, for you guys. But if things don't turn out well for me, you guys will all just have to accept the fact that I just can't make friends like the way I used to." With that, his family smiled at him showing that they all agreed to him. Oh boy, this was going to be a tough week then, Ichigo could feel it.