She couldn't be a part of this world and she couldn't lie anymore.

She sat on the windowsill in the empty classroom, waiting for the boys to finish their sports practice, and wondering how she would tell him. The sun was going down and the room was in shadow save for the shafts of a brilliant sunset pouring in through the windows. Her schoolbag, stuffed with pens and books lay on the sill beside her. Birds wheeled in the red sky.

When the boys from her class trooped back across the playground, laughing and jossing each other, her eyes went instinctively to Ichigo who was walking at the back, his hands shoved in his pockets as always. She felt her heart skip a beat. She'd tried to believe that she felt his presence in a different way to other humans because of his reiatsu, but she was under no illusion now; she could no longer sense reiatsu. The encounter with the menos had drained away the last vestiges of her power. So, whatever she felt, it wasn't his spirit; it wasn't his power.

With a sigh, she lifted her bag onto her shoulder and went downstairs to meet him.

He was unaware of any change in her. He greeted her with his usual nod, then strolled past her, simply expecting her to fall into step behind as she always did.

Before they reached the gates though, she said his name:

"Ichigo."

"Yeah?" He kept walking, but hesitated when he realised she had stopped.

"Ichigo" - Suddenly, she couldn't remember what she'd wanted to say. He was waiting for a reprimand, she knew, or one of her usual jibes. When he didn't get it, he frowned and narrowed his eyes:

"What?"

"Are you – okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He flexed his arm, showing off the muscles that were thickening there. He had grown fitter, faster, in his human body as well as his spirit form. It might be the result of his time as a shinigami or it might simply be that he was growing older. Growing up. Because humans did that. "What's wrong? Spit it out, Rukia."

"I just – I was worried." She couldn't tell him the truth in case he tried to stop her. Would he try? Maybe he wouldn't give a damn. Maybe that would be better for both of them. But she needed to say good-bye. It would break her heart to leave without saying it. And because there would be no coming back, no second chance, no possibility of retracting her decision, she could surely tell him that she would miss him. If she could just remember the words.

He rolled his eyes and turned away from her:

"Come on, Rukia."