(一) Leaving and Waiting

(二) Love and Distance

(雨)

"No?!"

"Yes!"

"Kurosaki Ichigo?!"

"The scowling strawberry?"

"He didn't?!"

"He did."

"I always thought the bad boy image was just that, an image."

"Now you know better. I for one, am staying way clear of him. Who's to know what will trigger off that bad temper of his."

"So, he made her cry."

"In the rain."

"A pretty girl."

"Unbelievable."

"All for an..."

"That's right. For..."

(傘)

"An umbrella?!" Arisawa Tatsuki glared at her childhood friend. "A friggin' umbrella! Are you totally out of your mind?! The whole campus is talking about you and your unjustifiable behaviour towards one of the fairer sex. As if you didn't have a bad enough reputation about you. Now you're adding more fuel to the scorching fire and people are going to think you are... "

"Crazy." Sado Yasutora softly suggested.

Tatsuki grinned wickedly, "Not the mild form of the word I would use. But thanks, anyway Chad."

Sado gave her a thump's up and patted his ill-tempered friend lightly on the back.

The man of the moment, of the campus, scowled sorely back at his friends. His so-called childhood friend and his giant of a best friend.

"There! There's the infamous scowl of death. The one which precedes everything about you." Tatsuki gleefully pointed out and silently added, 'The same scowl which a certain lovesick princess found it to be so funny.' She thought nostalgically.

"What 'infamous scowl of death', you idiot?!" Kurosaki Ichigo continued to scowl, deathly? at Tatsuki.

Tatsuki, in turn, glared unflinchingly at him. "Is this how you should be treating somebody who has been defeating your tattered reputation, you ungrateful incredible sulk!"

"Nobody asked you! I am sure damn glad Ishida is not here. Who knows what kind of crap he would say as well?!"

"Oh Ichigo, are you missing your cousin?"

"Right. As much as I miss a hole in the chest."

"You know Ishida, being the smart one would have landed up at Todai, instead of being here with us lowly intellectuals. Same as Orihime, if she has chosen to study there." Tatsuki did not miss the barely noticeable, sad expression that her scowling childhood friend was trying to conceal. "Speaking of Orihime, I remember she has an umbrella which look like the one you have. Did she... "

"It's just an umbrella. A very common umbrella. Why are you so fixated on it?!" Ichigo cut her off, brusquely.

"I fixated on it?!" You are the 'talk' of the campus for snatching what you said is a common umbrella from a poor girl. In the pouring rain, I might add and is the rumours true, about 'crazy' you shouting like a mad Midas at the lost of his 'gold' or in your case, a small, light blue, rather familiar looking umbrella."

"She was using it without my permission, it was not raining, that heavily and I did not shout at her." Ichigo defended himself of his supposed churlish behaviour.

"But she did cry."

"How the hell would I know? I left after I have taken back what was my private property. And for your information, I 'talked' to her as I do you or any of the opposite sex; I don't see you or them crying like a big baby, do I?"

"Ichigo, Ichigo, Ichigo." Tatsuki sighed dramatically after saying his name, thrice.

The said Ichigo glared impatiently at her and waited, at least he tried. "What the hell?! If you've something to say, just spit it out!" He shouted.

Tatsuki looked at him pitifully, "Do you consider that as shouting?"

"I... Was it, Chad?" Ichigo looked at Sado to enlighten him and he got it in the form of a solemn nod.

"Was this the same raised tone that you used against a sensitive soul?" Tatsuki probed.

"What 'sensitive soul'?! She was a friggin' kleptomanic who stole something of mine. And I reiterate, I use this type of tone on you all the time." Ichigo stared down his childhood friend.

Tatsuki sighed, again. "Ichigo, I am different."

"You are not a girl?" He interrupted and smirked smugly at her taken offence of her not being of the fairer sex.

Tatsuki punched him on the arm, not like a girl, of course. "No! You dense idiot! I am used to your rudeness. And I know what you're really like. Perhaps," Now it was her turn to smirk back at him. "You can treat them like you do Orihime."

"W-What?! I don't treat I-Inoue any different from you or Rukia." Ichigo added another black-haired female friend of his for good measure. And he certainly did not stutter.

"You don't? That's weird? Orihime was always correcting me when I griped about you being a bad-mannered, boorish, blaring barbarian. She said you're just excitable and you have never behaved that way to her. So I thought, if you behaved more 'gentlemanly' to her, you could do the same with the rest of the female population not used to your 'excitable' nature. Who knows, you might even score a few dates?" Tatsuki teased him mischievously.

"We are here to study. Not go on time-wasting dates with superficial hypocrites." Ichigo responded emotionlessly.

"Ichigo." Tatsuki should have taken offence over his blatant contemptuous remark of her sex in general... expect... for one.

"Speaking of Inoue? Have you heard from her? How is she? Is she coming home for Tanabata?" Ichigo asked about the only girl he has always wanted to go on a date with in a fast string of questions.

Taking Ichigo's questions as a sign he was changing the subject, Tatsuki decided not to continue with what she was provoking him about.

"You should talk. How many times have you seen her since she left? Let me count. Wait..." Tatsuki stared at him pointedly and waved her hands at him. "Zero. That's the number of times you have met up with her whenever she comes back to Karakura. And for the number of times you have talked to her or sent her a message? Another big fat zero." Tatsuki spelled out the harsh truth for him.

"I don't like corresponding." He muttered grumpily.

"And also waiting. Yea, Orihime told me. Still, that's no excuse for you not seeing her whenever she's back in town. How could you stand to not see her beautiful, blushing face?" The best friend of the princess teased her crush of yonder years gone by.

A never-forgotten, treasured memory of a beautiful girl in the rain flickered on in his mind, lingered achingly in his heart and the longing to see her again soared at the image.

But...

He just cannot bear to see her happy and stood aside as she leave again.

And again

So, it was better this way.

Tatsuki and Sado looked at Ichigo being his scowling, silent self. Tatsuki was going to thump him on the back to get him out of his melancholy mood, her hand lifted, readied to strike, when Sado's big, brown hand captured the karate practicer's wrist and shook his head at her. It fell limply back to her side when it was released.

"Ichigo." Sado low, concerned voice cut into his reminiscing of a girl he thought of as being more than a friend.

Ichigo tried to put on a as-normal-as-possible look for him when he gave Sado a reassuring nod.

"So, how is she anyway?" He asked of Tatsuki. He has to know.

Tatsuki gave him a guarded look. "What do you think? Surrounded by love, she's glowing like the star she is named after."

His heart felt like it has stopped beating for awhile, felt because he could feel the uncomfortable, tightening of his chest when he knew she was happy.

Why shouldn't she?

How did he ever imagine she would miss him like he did her?

Desperately missing her.

"I guess she's truly happy, then?" He should be happy for her, even though he was dying, on the insides... for her.

"She is. Till she comes back to Karakura."

"Why? What's wrong with our town?"

"It's not the place itself. It's someone."

"Who?"

"You know who."

"Just friggin' tell me already!"

"You are shouting again."

"I am bloody not!"

"Tatsuki, don't give Ichigo a hard time." Sado played the peacemaker.

"Fine. Whenever Orihime comes back home, she will come bearing gifts and always hoping to see that certain someone. But as the day of her leaving drew nearer and nearer and there's still no sight of him, the twinkle in her eyes seemed to dim a little and her sunshine smile, well, it was soon covered by the dark clouds. Then finally, just before she leaves again, she will hand me the gifts she has chosen especially for him and tells me to give them to him... With all of her love." Tatsuki fabricated her story with the added mention of the 'L' word.

'Gifts?! What gifts?! Since I have never received anything from Tatsuki, does that mean I am not the one she is missing?' There was a grimace on the previously always hopeful orange-haired protector's handsome face as his thoughts turned to dismal dejection.

"Is it Ishida?" He asked with a frown.

Tatsuki has a dumbfounded expression on her face. At first, she did not realize why he was asking about Ishida but then, awareness soon arrived. She thought of prolonging his misery as a punishment for his blatant blindness about a princess' affection for him.

'Nah.' She thought magnanimously to herself as she took in her scowling childhood friend's forlorn features.

"How could it be Ishida? He has made the effort to try to catch up with Orihime whenever she's back in town. He seemed to have genuinely missed her. When they do meet up with each other, even if in the midst of all of our friends, they would be found in some corner, whispering and giggling at each other." Tatsuki stopped in her description of two close friends happy with each other's company to look at their other close friend.

He was trying hard to keep his normal scowling, game face on but his intense brown eyes were betraying him of what he was really feeling.

And the fists clenching tightly before the tortured hands were shoved furiously in the pockets were a dead giveaway.

Tatsuki sighed. 'If only you were here, Orihime.'

"Well, actually it's just Orihime rambling on about her new life and giggling to herself when she said something funny. Ishida, he's just sitting there listening to her like a fond strait-laced uncle, nodding indulgently and irritating a lot of other people, mostly her fanboys by monopolizing the princess' time. But, he's a good friend," She glared at Ichigo, "coming back especially from Tokyo just to 're-acquainted' with old friends. Unlike a certain orange top who though lives in the same town can never be bother to show his scowling face." Tatsuki pointed out, accusingly.

"I was busy." He muttered, defensively.

"Every. Single. Time. Who are you friggin' trying to kid?! Why are you avoiding her? Can you not even pretend to be happy for her?! Isn't she your friend?"

Ichigo glared and scowled at Tatsuki for thinking that he did not consider the gentle healer as a friend. Of course, she was a friend. She...

She meant so much more to him.

And he too has contemplated she thought of him in that certain way.

But...

"If it's not Ishida. Who is it? Who's the lucky recipient of her gifts?" He really has to know.

"She's not coming back for Tanabata this year, you know?"

"W-What?! Why?!" Ichigo was surprised at the abrupt change of subject.

"He is tired of seeing his sparkling 'star' losing a little of her shine whenever she returned to him, broken-hearted from her trip here."

"At not seeing him?"

"Yeah."

"If it is not Ishida, then who is it?"

"You really don't know who it is?"

"If I did, would I keep asking about it?"

"You really want to know?"

"YES!"

"You are shouting again." Tatsuki reminded the scowling, sullen friend. "I will tell you, on one condition."

"What is it?"

"You tell me honestly if the umbrella was given to you by Orihime."

"Why are you so damn obsessed with it?!"

"You are the one who is treating it like a damn precious piece of keepsake and you dare to accuse me of being obsessed with it?!" Tatsuki retorted back.

"I do not!"

"You know you do! Now tell me once and for all, is the umbrella from Orihime?"

For a spilt second, Ichigo has half the mind to lie, but what was the use. Tatsuki might have already asked about it from Inoue and he certainly did not want the grief from Tatsuki as to why he lied about something as trivial as an umbrella.

An impromptu gift from her.

Something to remember her by.

"Yes." He answered her.

Tatsuki nodded. "Now tell me why the extreme 'reverence' towards it? And no denying it, for you have already terrorized a sweet young thing over it."

"'Terrorized'?! I am going to admit I might have been a little loud but it was not terrorizing and she was definitely not a sweet young thing."

"Whatever. She's history. Let's just answer the important question. Why the 'worship'?"

Ichigo glared at Tatsuki.

"You know why."

"I don't. That's why I'm asking."

"Because it is from her."

"Why is her so special?"

Ichigo let out a sigh of frustration. "If I really know why, I would not be having all these uncontrollable thoughts and dreams about Inoue on a near daily and nightly basis. She is always on my mind." He confessed unhesitantly, in a remarkable unlike his hidding-his-true-feelings normal self, directly at his friends.

Tatsuki gaped in wonder, speechless.

Sado gave him another brotherly pat on the back.

Slowly, Tatsuki closed her mouth and grinned devilishly at him. "There's still hope for you."

"Hope for what?" Ichigo scowled in bewilderment.

"To go after the fair princess and let her reveal what your subconscious has been trying to make you understand. Though I suspect you already know what you're feeling, but you're not willing to admit it. All you need is a little encouragement."

"And that would be... " Ichigo prompted with his heart beating fast in the promise of what was going to be disclose.

"You want to accompany me home now to receive your gifts or do you want me to give them to you, tomorrow in school? Tatsuki grinned cheekily.

"You mean... " His heart was thundering so loud in his ears, it was a wonder he could still hear what was said.

"Yes." Tatsuki answered, peacefully and Ichigo exploded in no longer, pent-up self-torment.

"Why didn't the hell you give them to me when she first started bringing those gifts to me?!"

"You're shouting again." She began to warn him again, but seeing the no-more-crap furious look on his face, "I wanted to make you feel as bad as she did. I wanted you to 'man-up' and sort out your feelings for her. It did work out in the end, right? You missing her?" She watched as the anger slowly disappeared from his handsome features.

Ichigo looked back at her calmly. "I see. Give me her address." He asked just as coolly.

"Why? Are you going to thank her for your thoughtful gifts? Give me your mobile. I will type her address for you." Ichigo proceeded to do what was requested. He peered at what was being typed. "No. Her home address." He pointed out.

Tatsuki arched an eyebrow. "Why... You sending her gifts back to her?" She joked.

"You did say she's not coming home for Tanabata, right?"

Tatsuki nodded. The anticipation of what he was going to say render her unable to answer him.

Ichigo smirked, knowingly.

"Since she is not coming home from Tanabata," The smirk widened substantially, "I will be going to her."

Tatsuki stared incredulously at him and forced a strangled 'why' from her throat.

And his long-awaited answer almost made the former second strongest girl in Japan wept in girlish joy.

"I guess I can't love her this much and love her from afar."

(遠め)