His second day in Karakura High went rather well. There were always those mean teens that would pick on him because of his pale features, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary, in fact Shirosaki saw this coming.

None of these problems mattered to him because there was only one thing on his mind. Actually, to be precise, it was someone.

Kurosaki Ichigo.

The guy sure couldn't speak through his mouth, not even a sound could be heard coming out from those lips, but his honey caramel eyes spoke thousands of words. The albino wasn't capable of comprehending why anyone wouldn't notice it or if they were just ignoring this fact on their own whim.

The teen had told him, more like wrote it down, that his vocal cords were damaged after a car accident. At first, it sounded logical; the impact may have actually damaged his vocal cords in some irreparable way. However, Shirosaki discovered not long afterwards that this was a lie.

The white-haired teen had met Ichigo's group friends when lunch time came. They didn't seem to mind that Ichigo didn't talk. They actually had fun trying to guess what he was saying with signal language. At some point, Keigo, one of Ichigo's friends, had said a stupid thing that didn't make sense at all and it made the whole group laugh. Including Ichigo, who wasn't supposed to be able to, according to facts.

Shirosaki had smiled at first, the sound of Ichigo's soft laugh making his skin tingle, though his smile was quickly replaced by a frown. If it was true that his cords were so severely damaged, laughing wouldn't be possible. Sounds would be completely impossible to produce.

Ichigo wasn't speaking because he couldn't. He just didn't want to.

But why?

Shiro was angry and frustrated for a short amount of time. None of Ichigo's friends seemed to notice that he had been lying to them all the time. He didn't want to step in a matter that didn't concern him at all, but since he had seen the lonely look in Ichigo's eyes he just couldn't stay out of it no matter how hard he tried.

This anger was soon replaced by curiosity as Shiro remembered how his laugh had sounded and how his eyes had shined almost happily for the first time since Shirosaki was there. It made him try to guess how Ichigo's voice might sound like. He was sure his voice sounded as heavenly as his eyes.

xxx

The orange haired boy started noticing Shirosaki more and more over the hours. There was something about the albino that made his heart beat faster. In the span of almost twenty four hours, Shirosaki had made his way to him faster and closer than any of his friends had.

He was stunned when Shirosaki pleaded him to stay a little longer at the rooftop with him after all his friends had left to go to the following classes. His honey colored eyes had widened when the pale teen approached him and whispered three words next to his ear:

"I hear you."

In normal conditions that sentence wouldn't have sounded weird at all but Ichigo knew those words had a deeper meaning, one that only himself could understand. Even without his voice, Shirosaki had been able to see through him without a problem. He probably even discovered that Ichigo wasn't really physically unable to speak.

For the first time in eight years since 'that' accident, Ichigo wanted to take Shiro's hand before he walked away and say 'thanks' for noticing him. Such a simple word, but so hard to say after so many years of self induced silence. Ichigo was struggling with himself to do so, to stop Shiro from walking away and speak to him.

'Just speak dammit! It isn't as if you have forgotten how to form sentences coherently.' The mute teen scolded himself.

Taking a harsh decision, he took Shiro's pale wrist and stopped him just before he got too far. Golden irises looked back at him, confused. Pink lips parted open to try and form words, but not even a small sound came out of his throat. A chuckle could be heard coming from Shiro as he turned to Ichigo.

"You're welcome."

Ichigo was left speechless after that (no pun intended). How did Shiro know he wanted to say thanks? A warm feeling spread through his chest afterwards, his heart beating even faster than before. After all those years of pain, the feeling that coursed through his body and mind felt almost alien to him.

Maybe Shirosaki was his escape from that dark and cold world he was trapped in.

xxx

Shirosaki woke up covered with a thin layer of sweat, the sheets were a mess on the floor and his pajama pants felt tighter than normal. "Fuck, just what the hell did I just dream about?" The pale teen growled to himself as he ran his hand through his white hair.

He wouldn't be so annoyed if it had been only a wet dream, something that was completely normal for a teenager. That, however, hadn't been an ordinary dream. Shiro dreamt of Ichigo. Below him, squirming and moaning. How did his sick mind manage to imagine Ichigo's voice in such a way?

"I actually want to hear his voice so I dream 'bout this better…" Some silent seconds passed by until Shiro scolded himself for thinking such things. "No! I don't wanna listen to his voice just for that, ya sick bastard."

An hour later he was sitting at his desk waiting for the class to start. At that time Shiro cursed himself for arriving so soon because he let his absent mind switching to thoughts of Ichigo and the damn dream. Once the orange haired teen entered the classroom, Shiro tried to distract himself with anything, but the temptation of it was just too big. Golden eyes glared at Ichigo as he approached him to sit on the desk next to his. Luckily for Shiro, he was able to push the dirty thoughts to the back of his mind and focus on more important things like the fact that Ichigo looked better than the previous days. His skin wasn't as pale and the dark bags under his eyes were slowly disappearing, meaning that he had been able to sleep those three nights since they'd met.

Smirking happily about Ichigo's better condition, the paler one called the other and greeted him with a cheerful 'good morning'. Surprisingly enough, Ichigo smiled back and greeted him back with a soft wave of his hand.

Ichigo was in a better mood since his father hadn't been at home for three days in a row. Even though he should be at least a little worried, the peace he breathed at home made him forget that his dad was missing. The teen could eat what he wanted, sleep all he wanted and do his homework peacefully without stressing himself over it. After some years, he was even able to play the guitar again or listen to his favorite music through the speakers. Ichigo found the opportunity last night to call his sisters and know if they were okay. The twins obviously missed his old brother but they were pretty happy at their uncle's house. The good news made his mood even brighter.

And Shirosaki was the first one to notice this.

The classes went by smoothly and lunch time came sooner than expected, maybe due to the good mood Ichigo was in the classes seemed shorter than ever. Unexpectedly for Shiro, he was dragged to a place where the two were alone. Surprised by this, Shiro decided to ask why Ichigo wasn't having lunch with his group of friends as always. The orange haired glared at him for a few seconds until reaching inside his pocket to take out a mini notebook and a small pen. After writing some words down, he showed the paper to Shiro.

'Would you like to hang out with me this afternoon?'

Shiro's mouth hanged open at the request before a smirk appeared on his face. "Of course I'd like to Ichi."

Ichigo frowned at the nickname but didn't complain about it. It was way better than 'strawberry' or 'berry'.

"Where're we goin'?"

Honey eyes looked to the other side as if thinking about the question before writing in the next page. 'My house sounds good?'

Another page. 'I'd like you to listen to a song I composed for guitar.'

Shirosaki agreed faster that he'd liked to. He didn't want to seem too eager to spend some more time alone with Ichigo, more even if it was in the berry's house. "I'd like to hear ya' sing too ya' know."

A sad smile formed in Ichigo lips as another thing was written down. 'I don't need words to express my feelings.'

"Tch… Whatever."

Somehow Ichigo was aware that Shirosaki knew this better than anyone.