Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

Thought/Past

Present.

.

-Love Story-

10

The young man frowned at the sight of the young woman. He walked faster, passing the electronic gate as the woman recognized him and smiled. The auburn—almost chestnut—haired woman waved her slender hand cheerfully. He didn't return the wave, his eyes were on the two umbrellas on her other hand. Now he knew why she was there.

He was surprised when he saw her. He didn't expect to see her there. He never thought that his lovely housemate would come to pick him up at the station. He stopped right in front of her, still frowning. She still beamed at him with her beautiful smile.

"You're waiting for me?"

She nodded, "It's raining though the weather forecaster said it wouldn't. I know you didn't bring your umbrella with you this morning." She showed him the umbrellas in her hand, "Which one do you want to use? Pink? Yellow?"

Ichigo sighed. He preferred a transparent vinyl umbrella for a rainy day like today actually, but he could never deny this girl anyway. He was kind of moved actually. She did not have to pick him up at the station, really, he could just borrow the public umbrella at the station or just bought one at the convenience store nearby. He appreciated the thought, though the colors of the umbrellas were just…

"Well?" she asked again.

He let out another heavy sigh, the choices were hard: pink or yellow.

"Yellow please."

At least yellow would not be as gay as pink.

She nodded happily and handed him the yellow umbrella.

He accepted the umbrella halfheartedly and opened it. He could hear some passerby giggle at him. He really wanted to slap his own face. He never thought that the umbrella would have a pair of ears and tiger face on it. Yes, a tiger—a very cute tiger.

Orihime chuckled at his expression, "It suits you."

This time he really slapped his face.

"Let's go." He grabbed her hands automatically and pulled her to leave the station, barely giving her time to open her own umbrella. He just wanted to leave that place quickly.

They left the station building still holding hands. Ichigo didn't seem to realize it but Orihime just chuckled silently and didn't say anything about it. She actually liked the way his big hand held hers.

His hand was so warm and gave a good feeling to her. She liked it.

He slowed his pace as they walked, leaving the crowded area. They walked slowly side by side, still holding hands. Sometimes their umbrellas would bump into each other, but they did not say anything. Ichigo found it was a little awkward and he needed to say something to break the silence, though a part of him liked the silence. Just walking side by side like this had given him this warm feeling inside his chest.

"Err, well," he wanted to rub his nose but his hands were busy. He couldn't drop the umbrella and he did not want to let her hand go yet, "thanks."

Orihime giggled, "You are welcome."

He licked his lips. He looked at the shorter girl from the corner of his eyes. Lately he was almost sure that he had a crush on this beautiful girl. He just wasn't sure whether he had to show his feelings to her or not. After all, he had promised to her that he would not fall for her. Well, though he had crossed his fingers when he made the promise, he was never the kind of guy who would easily break his promise.

He didn't know what else to say so he said nothing. The sound of the rain made a kind of cute music together with the sound of his heartbeat.

"Ah, by the way," he was a little startled when she started talking but he said nothing, "I found a job."

He looked at her and raised his brows, "Wow, really?"

She chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I'll be working at a bakery."

He smiled, "Good, I'm glad you finally found a job."

She laughed, "Um, me too. Finally I can pay you…"

Ichigo shook his head quickly, "No, that's not what I mean!" he said quickly, "I mean, I'm glad you finally got something to do so you won't get bored!"

Orihime laughed harder, "It's okay! I understand!" She smiled and shook her head, "I was just kidding."

They walked slowly, two more blocks and they'd be home. He really wanted a cup of nice hot chocolate. Maybe they could order some pizza, a celebration for her new job. He grinned at the idea. He really liked her smile and lately he did so many cheesy things unknown to her just to make her smile.

"So," he started again, "what's your new job?"

"Ah, it's a bakery," she sounded so excited. "I will be working at a bakery not too far from your office! It is my former teacher's bakery. I bought some pastries from there today. We can eat them once we're home!" she giggled happily, "You know, I've always wanted to work at a bakery since I was young."

He nodded, "Near to my office?"

"Yes! It's in the same area… Maybe you can bring your friends there? Or tell your students to go there?" Orihime laughed, "Well, I'm just kidding. But I wouldn't mind if you really do it. Hehe…"

Ichigo chuckled. Actually he did secretly plan to visit her sometime but he didn't say anything. They walked without saying anything anymore after that. His hand still held hers. She wasn't sure if he realized that he was still holding her hand but she decided not to tell him about it. She loved it anyway. She wished that their way home could be longer.

The black haired man stared at the older man with a cold look. He folded his arms on his chest, watching the other man who sat in front of him sipping his tea. His green eyes were cold and his lips formed a thin line. If a look could kill someone, the brown haired man would have been dead by now.

Smiling gently, the older man put his cup onto the table between them.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you hiring her?"

Aizen chuckled at his straightforward reply, "Well, she needs a job, and we need someone to replace Sakurai."

Though he was annoyed by his employer, the green eyed young man kept his stoic face. He took a sip of his black coffee without saying anything. He could hear Aizen chuckle again but he said nothing.

"Isn't it a good thing to see her again?"

Ulquiorra didn't say anything. He respected Aizen so much but sometimes he couldn't help but to think that the older man was really annoying. It was not about whether or not he wanted to see her, because he did want to see her. The problem was, he didn't know how to act around her or how she'd act around him. It'd be awkward.

"It will be awkward indeed," Aizen had always been like that, it was like he could read what was on his mind, "but this is your chance."

Ulquiorra rested his chin on one hand, looking bored, "For what?"

"Well," Aizen smiled, "you need to apologize properly to her."

The younger man almost snorted, "Don't play cupid."

He laughed.

"Yuzu! Hurry up!"

"Y-yes! Wait, I'm packing the salad!"

Karin sighed and rested her back on the seat. Her twin sister was making so much food that it took almost forever to pack it up. Some of the food was already in the car, and now they were waiting for Yuzu to come with the last packages. About five minutes later the young girl opened the door to the passenger seat and put the boxes of food on the seat next to her seat. Karin who sat on the navigator seat raised an eyebrow when she saw so many boxes of food on the back seat.

"You gotta be kidding!" she hissed, "We can't eat all those!"

Yuzu huffed as she closed the door, "We can, we can… Don't worry about it. Niichan lives alone, he must not have been eating properly and missed these foods."

Karin rolled her eyes, "Oh whatever."

"Okay, that's all?" the man who sat in the driver's seat turned to check on things.

"Yes, Dad!"

"Good!" he grinned excitedly, "here we go!" He started the engine with a huge smile plastered on his face.

When they started moving slowly, Karin sighed, "Are you sure we didn't have to call first? Niichan might not be home right now."

Isshin laughed, "Don't worry, he's a shut in nerd and he has no girlfriend to go dating with. I'm sure he's home." He looked at his daughter and grinned again, "He's home, don't worry."

From the back seat, Yuzu squealed happily, "Aaaah, I can't wait to see Niichan! It's been so long!"

Karin frowned, "It's just been a month since his last visit. It's not that long." Yuzu didn't seem to hear what she said but she continued, "He just called last week and he said he was rather busy, maybe he means he didn't want us to interrupt him."

"He'll be happy to see us, don't worry." Isshin said proudly, "He might cry when he sees us considering how we care about him. He looked at his other daughter through the mirror, "He will be happy to see the foods Yuzu has made for him."

Karin rolled her eyes and looked outside the window as the car started leaving the houses area. She frowned as the raindrops hit the window, "You know, maybe he is with his girlfriend right now, we should not bother him."

Yuzu and Isshin laughed when hearing that.

"Niichan doesn't have a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, it's your brother, Ichigo! I don't think he is popular enough to get a girlfriend."

Karin just rolled her eyes once again.

"ATCHOOOOO!"

"Are you okay?"

Orihime looked at the sneezing guy worriedly. Ichigo rubbed his nose and shook his head. They were looking at the pamphlets of food delivery services when he sneezed. They hadn't decided what to order for dinner. He thought pizza or ramen would be good.

"Nah, maybe someone was talking about me," he growled as he reached for another sheet. He was really hungry but he couldn't decide what to eat, "do you have something in your mind for dinner?"

Orihime bit her lip and shook her head, "I don't know, these all seem good to me..."

Ichigo nodded. He understood that. He also couldn't decide between meat-lover's pizza or eel ramen.

"What do you think about ramen?"

Orihime was about to answer when someone knocked on the front door, almost banging on it.

"Tsk," Ichigo was ready to stand up but Orihime stood first and ran to the front door. Somehow, he got a bad feeling about it, "W-wait! Let me open it!"

Orihime stopped and turned to see the orange head, she tilted her head confusedly, "Eh?"

Ichigo stood up hurrily and walked to the front door. Orihime stood not far behind him, confused by the way he acted. Ichigo grunted as he opened the door. He didn't expect any guests tonight so whoever these people behind the door were, they'd better have a pretty good reason to disturb his private time. He opened the door angrily.

"Good evening Ichigo!"

He froze.

His family was grinning at him—except for Karin who only smirked at him. He did not expect his family to come. They did not call him or anything. In a second his brain stopped working. This wasn't good at all.

"Ichigo-kun, are you okay?"

To his horror, Orihime walked to his side and looked at him concernedly.

"I-I am okay, Orihime..." he managed to turn to the auburn head.

A meter from him, three jaws dropped to the cold floor.