A/N: Thank you! Salamat! Merci beaucoup! Arigatou! Gracias!

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.

As with every morning, Ichigo found Mizuiro waiting for him when he stepped out of his house.

"Ohayo, Ichigo."

"Yo."

They fell into step towards school.

"Feeling better?"

"Hmm? About what?"

"Oh, it just seemed like it had been a hard day for you yesterday."

"I'm fine. Besides, why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Hmm."

"..."

"..."

"Did you eat the chocolates?"

"... Yes?"

A chuckle.

"What?"

"I heard that Inoue-san gave you more."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Around the school. Everyone was talking about it."

"What?"

"She was feeding you, apparently."

"What?"

"And there were a lot of questions about when you two were going to make it official?"

"What? Official? Make what official?"

"Well, for sure, she wasn't feeding anyone else that she'd given chocolates to, so of course now there's a lot of rumours going around."

Mizuiro stopped walking when he realized he was suddenly alone.

A few paces back stood Ichigo, his face in a shade that horribly clashed with his hair, suddenly sporting an expression that belied his usual confidence.

Being the lover of ladies that he was, Mizuiro could pick up on the signs of attraction between a man and a woman, even if one of them seemed hellbent on denial and possessed of extreme obliviousness. For as long as they've been in school together he'd been keen on merely observing and waiting for everything to naturally take its course, but over time, patience could really run thin especially when it seemed as though nothing would ever happen. Sympathizing with Inoue-san, Mizuiro figured he could help her along in his own small way, especially after having seen a slight change in her demeanour several weeks ago that was only reinforced by Tatsuki's increase of protectiveness. And it was hard not to notice to whom the latter directed her hostility at. Inoue-san had come back to her usual normalcy since then, but he figured some change had taken place between her and Ichigo. Besides, he was getting tired of the stagnant situation that they all found themselves in.

The minutes ticked by and Mizuiro finally took pity on his friend.

"They're just rumours, Ichigo. There's nothing between you and Inoue-san anyway, right?"

Ichigo blinked, and resumed walking.

"Right. Nothing."

Conversations about who got more Valentine treats from the day before filled the halls and classrooms. Ichigo's hand clenched on the handle of the bag over his shoulder as he heard disappointed whispers from underclassmen mourning about not receiving chocolates from the school idol who had been seen giving them out seemingly willy-nilly, even so far as feeding one of her friends by the stairs. Which got them speculating about its significance and questioning her taste. In men, not her tastebuds.

He could feel his ears burning. He'd thought it was a pretty private moment between them―not that he was ashamed or that he had anything to hide (except for the whole matter of confession-rejection) but it was really nobody else's business but theirs. Not that it meant anything more than what some friends who have shared a lot over the years might do, despite what Mizuiro had seemed to insinuate earlier. And really, it definitely wasn't up to them to whom she'd show her affections to, he thought, his chest almost puffing out with pride.

Remembering the chocolates he'd carefully hidden away in his room almost brought an uncharacteristic smile on his face, and he fought hard to curb it. He had never been much for introspection, had never really found interest in pondering the mysteries of what girls did and why they did them, and he especially didn't really want to probe as to the meaning behind the shapes of the chocolates she'd given. Randomly picked or pre-planned? What shapes were Keigo's chocolates? Was there a deeper reason why his friend had become so suddenly attached to Inoue beyond receiving his first Valentine's gift? What about Chad's?

With each question, his brow furrowed so deeply that he began to get a headache. Why had things become so complicated? And why was he so bothered?

He sat down at his desk with a weary sigh.

Wasn't this the very thing he wanted to avoid? Ever since that day, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. They'd made quite the steps in regaining what they had, for which he was thankful of, but at the same time he couldn't help his traitorous mind from wondering what it would've been like if he'd answered differently.

Was he given a taste of it yesterday when it was just the two of them by the stairs? Did she reserve those heart-shaped chocolates specifically for him, or was it arbitrarily given? The boxes didn't really have any markings that differentiated themselves from the others.

And why was he even still thinking about this?

Ichigo was saved from further cyclical ponderings by Mizuiro's laughter, and he only now realized his friend was standing by his desk the whole time.

Mizuiro's phone was at its usual place in front of him, his fingers flying along the dials as he typed in a response before finally closing the flip with a satisfied smile.

It was only now that Ichigo felt a little hint of envy toward his friend, who'd found it so easy to have love affairs, even going so far as managing too many girlfriends when he could barely think of anything like that applying to himself.

"Goooood moooooorning, everyone!" came an overly cheerful voice from the door. "This is a very beautiful day, isn't it?"

Keigo strutted inside the classroom, sporting slicked-back hair and eyebrows in a ridiculous position upon his brow. He made his way to where his friends were, hands behind his head as he sucked in his cheeks, exuding self-satisfaction.

"Good morning, Asano-san," responded Mizuiro. "You're looking livelier than normal."

"After yesterday, today could only get better."

"Is that right?"

"Uh-huh." Keigo couldn't help the smirk that played at the corner of his lips. "I walked Inoue-san to school today," he proudly proclaimed. "We were totally together."

Ichigo's scowl deepened. After all this time, they'd gotten used to Keigo's antics, and he was indecisive as to whether or not he should take his friend seriously for once. He opted for a lack of response. And just glared.

It didn't help matters that Mizuiro also kept silent.

After a long moment, Keigo fidgeted uncomfortably. "Arisawa-san w-was there," he finally managed to stutter out. "A-and H-honshou-senpai."

"So..." Mizuiro began.

"I just followed them to school," finished Keigo with a sob, the slicked-back hair finally falling down into their usual unruly style.

Ichigo exhaled the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. It was almost ridiculous to think that he almost saw Keigo as a serious contender―although there really was absolutely nothing for them to compete over. Least of all about Inoue.

And there really was no reason for him to feel possessive of her.

No reason whatsoever.

Thanks for reading :)
Dec/2010