Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Ichigo decided to ignore his alarm clock at first but he had no choice. Hitting the snooze button, he got up and stretched his arms.

Today was the day.

The day that he dreaded; the day he would have to face Orihime and all her other friends for the sake of his family. To his surprise, his family was really happy that he was finally going out during the weekend for once. Especially Yuzu, she was glad he was going out to have fun other than having to run errands for her. Karin was also glad...since she would have the television all to herself the whole day.

And their father was the same as always, teasing Ichigo on how he finally decided to have a social life and that he also should get a girlfriend while he's at it. Isshin favored to have Orihime as his daughter-in-law and that they should give him some grandchildren as soon as possible.

Ichigo, who was getting annoyed by the fact that his own father was talking nonsense, decided to shut him up by giving him a good whiff across the face with his fist. That'll teach him. Ichigo thought to himself.

After finishing his long shower, he decided an outfit that would be suitable for the event. Orihime said that it would be a semi-formal event so he pulled out a plain blue long sleeve button down shirt, a pair of dark skinny jeans and a pair of Chuck Taylors to complete his "semi-formal" outfit.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he seemed to be satisfied and hoping that everyone who will be at the party won't judge him. Fixing his hair and letting his spikes settle, he grabbed his belongings and headed towards the door.

"Now, don't come home too late," his father said just before Ichigo reached for the door handle. Ichigo turned to face him, "I won't, dad."

Isshin grinned, "Alright, have fun." Ichigo gave his father a slight nod and made his way to Orihime's house.

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The weather was nice, clear blue skies with the sun shining brightly. The backyard of the Ichimaru residence had tables of drinks from earl grey tea to sake and various types of finger food from cheese bites to crab cakes. There was a big birthday cake standing alone at the end of the long table with the finger food that had 'Happy Birthday Rangiku!' written at the top of the three-tier cake.

The guests were starting to arrive and fill up the backyard and Orihime was starting to search for a typical orange-haired male.

"He's not here yet?" a voice asked.

Orihime turned around to see her adopted mother, her hair was put up in a half-up-do, letting her strawberry blonde locks flow freely while the top half was put in place. She wore a lavender colored Sunday-dress that stopped just above her knees with straps and a sweetheart neckline, giving a good glimpse of her cleavage. Orihime had to admit that her mother was the most stunning person she had ever seen in her life, and it amazed her that her mother can still look beautiful without having the effort to. She was a bit taller thanks to the silver heels that she wore.

"No, he's not here yet," said Orihime.

"Well, I hope he didn't get lost on his way here then," Rangiku smiled, "I'll be over there chatting with some friends. Introduce me to him when he gets here, okay?"

"I-I will okaa-san." Orihime watched her mother approach a few females, I hope Kurosaki-kun gets here safely…

"Is everything alright Orihime?" Rukia asked as she walked up to her. "You look kinda worried."

"Oh, um, everything is fine Rukia-chan…it's just,"

"Just what?"

"Can you do something for me?"

Rukia eyed the auburn haired girl. Sure, she always did anything anyone asked her to, but this was the first time she asked for a favor, which easily made Rukia accept whatever she wanted her to do, "Sure, what is it?"

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Renji yawned this wasn't the way he was expecting things to be today. Here he was, waiting outside with his girlfriend when he should be in the backyard eating crab cakes.

"Remind me again why we're out here?"

Rukia gave her boyfriend a look, this was probably the 5th time she had to tell him why they're waiting outside. Geez, Renji could be an ass sometimes, "We're doing what Orihime asked us to do."

He groaned, "But why do I have to be here? Clearly she asked you to do it, not me—guh!"

"If you don't want to be with me then go inside and eat your stupid crab cakes you jerk! Clearly you treat all your stupid food as your girlfriend and not me!" she exclaimed.

Renji stared at the girl who was now facing away from him, her face was flushed and her breathing was a bit faster than normal. Oh shit. He picked up the shoe that was thrown at him and approached her, "Rukia, you know I love you more than crab cakes or any other food."

Rukia ignored him and tried to find something else to focus on. "Come on, I didn't mean to make you angry," he pleaded.

Again, she ignored him. "Please forgive me," he paused, "If it makes you happy, I'll do your calligraphy for a month."

Rukia thought for a moment. She was never good at calligraphy. Ever. Her older brother would scold her for having such bad skills when he would ask her to write something for him. And her grades would become lower by a few points when they would have to do calligraphy related things during school. Making her decision, she turned to Renji who couldn't help but smirk, "So do you forgive me now?"

She rolled her eyes at this, "I can't stay mad at you that long anyways."

Before pulling her closer for a kiss, there was a sound of someone clearing their throat. Two pairs of eyes looked up to see the person they have been waiting for.

"Uh…sorry to interrupt you, but is this Orihime Inoue's house?"

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Ichigo took a sip of his punch as he stood by the crab cakes where Renji and Sado stood. Well, Renji was practically inhaling all of the crab cakes and would get a few slaps on the hand whenever Rukia would come over to talk to them.

Things were going pretty great for Ichigo—pretty hard to believe for him. When he was first escorted by Rukia and Renji, they took him to Orihime right away. Of course, she was happy as she would always be. Then she introduced him to her mother, and boy, did they look alike. Rangiku-san told Ichigo that she liked him already and that she is hoping to have him as a son-in-law one day, this made Orihime blush and Ichigo couldn't take the hint.

"These crab cakes are really good, you know?" said Renji as he took another mouthful.

"Renji," Sado began, "Don't eat too much or else you'll end up like last year."

"What happened last year?" Ichigo couldn't help but ask.

"He ate too many club houses and he ended up in the hospital for a day due to really bad stomach ache," Sado explained.

Renji completely ignored the two and continued to devour whatever he could lay his hands on. And the caterers who were standing behind the table gave him irritated looks as they watched him attack the food one by one.

"This guy sure has a big appetite," one whispered.

"Tell me about it."

"I hope Rangiku-san won't be mad about the bill."

"She'll probably know the reason behind it since she doesn't seem to mind him eating all the food."

Ichigo decided to ignore the caterers who commented about Renji's eating habit and watched as the party went on. It felt weird to him that he was able to feel at ease when this was his first ever party invitation. It was like this was a normal thing for him, like he's capable of doing it again anytime soon. This morning, he felt like backing out and not going, he could think of many possible excuses as to why he did not show up. But now, things are different, like he was actually enjoying this. He hadn't felt this way in such a long time though since he's never had friends, and it felt pretty good for him.

Pulling himself away from his thoughts, Sado spoke, "Hey, we should go over there. They're going to sing happy birthday."

"Oh, alright," Ichigo looked behind him to see that Renji was gone. Where did he go now?

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"Ne, thanks for coming Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said as she walked him outside.

"Ah, yeah. Thanks for inviting me."

"Did you have a good time?" she asked.

Ichigo nodded, "Surprisingly yes. Thank you…again."

Orihime smiled, "I'm glad."

"So uh, I'll see you in school," Ichigo was starting to walk away now, he gave the auburn haired girl a small smile, "Thanks Inoue."

"B-bye!" Orihime watched him walked down the street. That was the first time she ever saw Ichigo smile, and she hoped to see that small smile again. Today was a successful day for Orihime, she managed to get Ichigo to talk to Sado and Renji even though he was admitted to the hospital shortly after they sang to Rangiku.

As for Ichigo, he seemed happy. He may have forgotten what it was like to have friends but it was great to finally make some. Meeting Rukia, Renji and Sado was a great thing, and he's looking forward to seeing them around during school. Everything that has happened today was all thanks to Orihime.


Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter so far. I was thinking of putting up another one but I always end up losing my writing mood after I finish a chapter or something. Gah, I hate it when I'm like that. But if it ever comes back, I will continue to write the next chapter and post it soon. (:

Anyways, I hope this story doesn't become like More Than Alive because I haven't updated that story for a couple of months now. I have a bad writer's block for that story and I can't get out of it. I'm hoping to finish that story sometimes this year though.

And please, please review! Because that's what keeps me pumped and all. I love reviews. :D