A/N: I'm in the mood for more Bleach. Let's wing it.

Later: Just watched the first half of the Bount arc. God DAMN. I love Uryu and Utagawa and NOVA something fierce. I shall plot.

Chapter Eight

Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit

It was Monday morning and Ichigo was biking to school. His uniform was cleaned over the long weekend, and ever since Friday night he'd spent his time at home. He hadn't even talked to Renji since that occurrence at Ulquiorra's! He shivered at the thought, crossing the parking lot of Karakura-Hueco High. He completely cut himself off from his friends for two entire days to straighten his head, even. Needless to say, Monday wasn't his favorite day of the week.

"Gods, I never thought of a plan," Kurosaki thought to himself. He bit his lip, getting off his bike and chaining it to the rack. "I need to talk to Renji in English…and Grimmjow, Nnoitra and Ulquiorra will be around too." He felt his throat tighten at thinking about the blue-haired junior, images flashing through his head. He shook his head, running fingers through rusty hair while he headed into the B-1 corridor. At least he didn't have homeroom and period one with the blue-haired Adonis. He chewed his lip at even thinking about comparing him to that. Ichigo entered B-1, trying to keep his expression as indifferent as possible, as if Friday hadn't occurred.

"Yo, Ichi!" Renji's voice shattered his resolve. The red head gave a wave from his desk. He had his Vans propped up on the chair of Ichigo's desk next to him, a smile crawling over his face. Ichigo felt himself getting a smile as he got to his desk, pushing the loose shoes off.

"Hey Renji."

"Man, you look beat. What'd you do all weekend? Ya sure didn't call me, we've talked about this!" Ichigo gave a laugh at the hurt expression Renji gave him.

"Sorry babe, I had business to attend to." He carried the joke, laughing again as Renji's face dropped and his eyebrows went up his hairline.

"Business?"

"Oh, I mean, I just spent the weekend with Yuzu and Karin." Ichigo pulled the messenger bag off his shoulders and got comfortable in his seat. What else would Renji think he meant? Regardless, he noted the urgency he'd used in his voice, like he was indeed hiding something.

"Oh, alright." Renji nodded, cracking his back over his chair, arms stretched over his head. Ichigo breathed a little sigh of relief, for why he still wasn't sure, and leaned over his desk. His eyes stayed on the doors, watching who came in. Nearing the time for the bell to ring, the short middle-school-skipping Toshiro Hitsugaya made his way through the door, his bag over one shoulder and binder under his arm. Hitsugaya kept his icy eyes on his desk and not his homeroom classmates, setting his binder down and reading from it. Ichigo shook his head a little. "I wonder how that kid manages to be so smart and antisocial at the same time."

As usual, the snake-like Nnoitra slithered into the room with Tesla just as the bell rang, taking 5 long steps and plopping into the small desk clumsily. He reclined in his seat, legs stretching forward and onto the bottom bars of the kid unfortunate enough to sit in front of him. Zangetsu walked into the room seconds later, shutting the door and straightening his wrinkled collar.

"Talk or somethin', I don't care." The man grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Ichigo sighed, not sure whether or not to be relieved or not. Their homeroom teacher had to be the one man that needed an "I hate Mondays" coffee mug and didn't have one.

"So what'd you and yer sisters do?" Renji turned himself around to face Ichigo once more. Ichigo also turned, trying not to show on his face that he was having difficulty thinking something up.

"Uh, just sitting around the house. Baked with Yuzu on Saturday, and played some Soccer and video games with Karin yesterday. Nothing major."

"Sheesh, you've never been a mornin' person but you're out of it today." Renji gave an overdramatic sigh, playing with a hair tie that was around his wrist.

"You can't talk 'bout bein' out of it until you got as wasted as we did, Pineapple!" Both Ichigo and Renji came together to sigh as Nnoitra-goddamn-Jiruga butted into their conversation. Jiruga also managed to pull his desk over to theirs in a comical huddle with only a few deafening squeaks. "So there we were, me an' Shiro, just four beers left between us when all'a sudden Beanpole marches in with his ol' man's Whiskey. Hooo, shit man," Nnoitra started to giggle right then, the rest of the tale not mattering.

"That was Friday?" Renji humored him.

"Saturday, actually. I still had a case left at my place so I invited Beans and he brought Shiro with. Lil' moocher. I guess Berry an' him really are alike!" He chuckled, giving Tesla a nudge with his elbow to make him agree with his discovery. Tesla just smiled and nodded, though he rolled his eyes when Nnoitra turned away. Ichigo gave a chuckle.

"Sure, except for the part where we aren't alike at all."

"Ch, yeah, but ya lay off him. Ya must'a done somethin' cuz Grimm really gave him a whippin' fer mentioning something."

"Mentioning what?"

"Hell if I know, I don't remember shit. All I know is Shiro was probably mouthin' off 'bout how ya looked alike and Grimmy didn't like it too much." Nnoitra gave a shrug, thankfully missing the gulp Ichigo did. That didn't make sense at all, what would he have done to make Grimmjow angry with Shiro? There was the can of beer incident, but that was hardly notable.

"I don't remember doin' anything either."

"Hmmph, weird." Nnoitra picked at his ear, definitely now showing any interest in the topic anyways. Ichigo rolled his eyes, not understanding how Tesla could put up with this clown. Or maybe he was in the same situation as himself.

"That guy can get mad at anything anyways." Renji grumbled, giving Ichigo a look that he hoped was assurance. Ichigo nodded, trying to hide that he was biting at his lip. Don't worry about it, Ichigo. It isn't your problem anyways. He still dreaded the thought of Algebra more than normal.

"Oi, Berry, gimme yer Health assignment fer me to copy."

"Fuck yourself, Jiruga." Ichigo said as he handed him the notebook.

Ichigo fixed his hair like he always did after parting with Jiruga from Health class. He slinked off down the hallway towards his next class, waving like a moron while Ichigo repaired his spiky hair. The orange-haired boy shot him a glare, but it went unnoticed as the skinny Hirako slid into step next to Nnoitra. He figured that was how they remained in contact. He took the opposite path to the side stairwell, spotting the navy-haired boy as well. He remembered bumping into him and Grimmjow on the first days of class, and also seeing him at the party with some pink-haired Hueco. For a guy with such a sissy hair color, he looked terrifying when he left Ulquiorra's kitchen. His heart had already started thudding as he got to the third floor, and not from the amount of stairs. He was thankful that Grimmjow liked getting to class late and he wouldn't have to worry about walking into class with him. That wouldn't fix the fact he sat next to him.

A few of the other juniors filed into the classroom before the bell with Ichigo. He took his seat near the front of the room and was relieved to see the spot next to him still empty. The bell went off, Urahara-sensei appearing from behind a cluster of block shapes on a back table.

"Morning, everyone! I didn't receive any calls over the weekend so I assume you were well behaved. Today we're gonna use these blocks to review your skills with counting sides of shapes for our graphing chapter. After that you can start on your chapter one questions, I got 'em on the board. Now get one assignment sheet per pair." He looked over at the empty desk and rolled his eyes in Ichigo's direction, playful grin on his face. He obviously knew Grimmjow's tardy habits. Ichigo still cursed the teacher for assigning another group project, even if it was as simplistic as making 3D shapes.

The students all stood and got their papers, pushing desks sounding as they paired up and emptying baggies of plastic cubes onto the desk. Ichigo remembered doing this sort of stuff in sixth grade, but he assumed Urahara would make it a bit more realistic to what he needed to teach later. Regardless, he looked over the sheet as he went back to his desk, finding it easy enough. Ichigo glanced back at the empty seat next to him and then the door before he began answering the questions himself. Maybe he isn't in school today, Ichigo wondered, or perhaps hoped. The first two questions on the paper were simple, making triangles and telling which value was on which axis, and Ichigo still had the sixth grade instinct to start building other things with the tiny blocks.

As he was building a fantastic pyramid instead of a rectangle, the door opened from the force of a boot. He nearly choked on his tongue, but did drop his cube to place at the top of the pyramid and destroyed the entire west side. He looked up at the door under his hair, trying to avoid making direct eye-contact with the blue-haired junior entering the room without a care in the world. Urahara said nothing, just sitting at his desk typing away on a laptop with his clogged feet propped up. Grimmjow took his seat in his desk, and upon looking around the room, dragged it over to match Ichigo's. The orange-haired sophomore risked glancing up for a second, just nodding at him. Grimmjow looked him over for a moment, taking a handful of cubes from the bag and started building random things. Ichigo quietly sighed but returned to completing the worksheet for them both.

The assignment was complete in ten minutes; in the time Grimmjow had been able to construct a cat out of flat blocks on his desk. Ichigo glanced up at him again, but Grimmjow showed no interest in communicating and continued to build. Ichigo frowned, but got an idea. He started placing the blocks on his side of the table upside down, so it was legible in his partner's direction. It took him a while to figure out what he wanted to say, but swallowed slightly to push away his nerves.

P-A-R-T-Y…?

Grimmjow looked over, just barely, but Ichigo caught it. He did nothing however aside from returning to his building. Ichigo frowned and rearranged his words again.

T-A-L-K P-L-Z?

Ichigo didn't want to sound like a desperate bitch, but that was probably the closest he'd get to being one. Firstly, he wasn't one for chat-speak and secondly, he wasn't into begging someone to talk. But he was so damn frustrated by the junior's lack of interest in him suddenly. Not that he wanted all that attention in the first place, but what the fuck! Grimmjow took longer to see it this time as he was properly ignoring his Algebra partner. But he did notice it and looked at Ichigo with an expectant look, ready to listen. Ichigo licked his lips, hesitating for a few moments.

"…So, are you going to explain why you're ignoring me now?"

"I ain't ignoring you."

"Bullshit. What in the actual hell are you playing at? And don't say you aren't cuz yer a shit liar." Ichigo swallowed as he realized he'd copied what they'd said Friday night. Grimmjow's bright blue eyes narrowed, intensity increasing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You should know! You gotta tell me something!"

"I'll tell ya somethin' alright," Grimmjow was about to push himself up out of his desk when Urahara's rubber basketball hit him on the side of the head.

"Kurosaki-kun, Jeager-kun, if you have unresolved business please refrain from resolving it in my classroom. Now that you're all done with that group assignment you can return to finishing the assignment on the board individually." He said to the rest of the class, still giving Ichigo a strange look. He sighed, sliding the cubes back into the baggie before Grimmjow snatched it from him to do the same, then scooted his desk back into position. Ichigo sighed but opened his notebook to begin working on his assignment, but he could hardly concentrate. Nothing is going to happen if we don't do anything…I just want to know why he…kissed… Ichigo's cheeks turned a light shade of pink but he kept his head low, unaware of being watched.

"Oh shit, shit...!"

"I told you to stay quiet," the lithe young man leaning on him breathed onto his neck, leaving a soft kiss. The same man's hand slowed down over the taller boy's groin, delicately running his fingers over the exposed shaft. The owner shivered, the action eliciting a low moan and his nails scraped at the bathroom wall tiles.

"Well maybe I'd be quieter if ya didn't drag me out of Psyche and pin me ta the wall." A piano grin stretched onto his face, his shorter kidnapper mimicking it.

"As if you'd be paying attention, Nnoi,"

The kidnapper ran his thumb over the head of his victim's dick, slowly circling it around. Nnoitra hissed, his chest pressing further into the other's. "I'm much better at teaching ya things, after all..." his second hand drew circles over Nnoitra's partially exposed chest, the shirt having been hastily pulled open. Nnoitra scoffed, grabbing that hand and putting it down lower while meeting his deep violet eyes with soft brown, another grin crossing his face.

"Suck it," Nnoitra smirked, his bathroom-stall partner bending down onto his knees before he'd even given the demand. Wiry fingers continued to stroke Nnoitra's erection slowly, before his tongue flicked over the tip and brought it into his warm mouth. Upon hearing another sound of encouragement, he leaned down further, taking half of the long appendage into his mouth and stroking the base. Nnoitra groaned once more, slipping his narrow fingers through blonde hair. "Fuck, m'gonna come,"

The blonde only seemed to purr, letting the noise travel over the shaft he'd engulfed. Nnoitra seemed to shiver, shooting a cursory glance at his fellow student at his crotch. His grip on the blonde's hair tightened, his slim hips moving forwards, craving the heat that mouth was delivering. The boy on his knees stroked quicker, giving the head of the rock-hard length several sucks before Nnoitra lost it. He came with a snakelike hiss, forcing his length back into the other's mouth and pulling back out, then thrusting back in. He came hard, and a lot. The blond swallowed twice, attentively licking the shaft clean and refitting it back into dark red boxers and tight jeans. Nnoitra was the one to buckle his belt as the other got to his feet, grinning confidently."Well, 8 minutes ain't too bad. Don't be doubting the ability of Shinji Hirako again, Nnoi-toy."

Nnoitra rolled his visible eye, running his fingers through his own hair that was lightly dampened. Shinji was a weird motherfucker alright. When school started he began mentioning that a past-time of his at his old school was sucking off other guys during his free periods, something about "corrupting" them, or some shit. Nnoitra automatically called bullshit, and the blonde didn't take too kindly to it. He hadn't expected that at the party, quite intoxicated, Shinji would've pulled him away from the group to thoroughly molest him. He'd barely had the patience to straighten himself up when he'd returned to the kitchen! But he hadn't stopped there. Hirako then "offered" Nnoitra a ride home (to Shiro's dismay), and barely got him to the apartment before he was on him again. Once it got hot, he split, remarking that it was his "punishment for not believing him". Nnoitra must have made a comment in relation to the school restrooms to have brought upon this. He honestly couldn't remember most of Saturday except for Whiskey and Shiro's prescience preventing Shinji's further advances.

Shinji had caught up with Nnoitra in the hall, commenting that his class was right across from Nnoitra's next period, which was Psychology. The teacher was scary as hell on top of being the assistant principal. Anyways, while being bored-as-fuck in class, Shinji waved at him from the tiny window next to the closed classroom door. He didn't know what made him ask to leave the room. Nnoitra Jiruga hated to be wrong, but perhaps he was just used to it. Or desperate.

Shinji waved his fingers and marched back to class, the temperature in the restroom beginning to drop, to Nnoitra's appreciation. He straightened his jeans once more before running some cool water, washing off his face and careful to mind his bandana. "Weird motherfucker." He turned the running water off just as footsteps came from outside the restroom, another person about to head inside. Nnoitra quickly gave himself a glance-over to make sure he looked presentable before heading out, nearly bumping into a familiar pale-skinned friend.

"Hey Shiro,"

"Hey." Shiro's normal obnoxiously-high pitch was missing, replaced by a lower more average one, similar to Kurosaki's, if not lower. Shiro walked past him to the stalls. Nnoitra raised his eyebrow but headed out, putting his hands into his pockets as he reentered his Psychology classroom. As he did, Aizen-sensei threw a piece of chalk at his forehead.

"Jiruga-kun, we had feared that you'd fallen in. We were about to send reinforcements." Nnoitra bit his long tongue to avoid saying something along the lines of fuck your shit, Aizen. "Refrain from using the restroom for that length of time again; I wouldn't want you missing out on our lesson. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Aizen had told them to call him sir, after all. And his tone of voice was always the same, though the air felt heavy whenever he was getting vexed. It was almost always in Nnoitra's direction. The uneasy feeling was gone as fast as it was felt and as fast as Nnoitra sat back down in the too-small seat. Aizen's lecture on parts of the brain proceeded while Nnoitra glanced back to the classroom's window next to the door.

Toshiro sat down at the square, green table with the name "CARL" carved into a corner. He had a bento box in front of him, a ribbon keeping it closed. His grandmother insisted that he have home-cooking over school food, even though Hitsugaya protested to her overworking herself. He wouldn't complain though, his grandmother's food was spectacular. He slid the chopsticks out from underneath the red ribbon with green trim (watermelon patterned, cute) and subconsciously wiped the ends with his fingers. He looked back up and his icy orbs searched through the line, wondering where Hinamori had gotten. She said that her gym class was sometimes let out late and she'd end up at the end of the line, but he just couldn't see his childhood friend. He sighed but opened his bento and took an octopus-shaped sausage out with his chopsticks.

"Toshiro-chan!" He looked up abruptly, searching for the voice that called his name. He looked out into the expanse of the cafeteria, then to his right towards the locker bay, and then left. Some kids from the line looked over at him with surprised expressions. As Hitsugaya wondered what their problem was, he heard another voice.

"Itadekimasu…" om. Hitsugaya looked back to his right to see Ichimaru-GODDAMN-sensei eating his goddamn Octopus of his goddamn chopsticks!

"Ichimaru!" Hitsugaya hurt his throat his voice went so much lower than it was capable. The fox faced teacher just chewed, leaning over the Carl table with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Oh, delicious! You di'nt make them, did'ja Toshiro-chan?" Hitsugaya twitched in irritation, not only because he had yet another nickname for him, but he said it in a light airy tone that he'd heard before. He thought that'd been his friend, and that freaked him out.

"That's my lunch!" Hitsugaya found his voice again, a growl still crawling into his throat and becoming noticeable when he spoke.

"An' it's so cute. Even tha' ribbon is cute, yer grandma is a sweet lady with sweeter cookin'."

"Toshiro-chan!" He whipped his head back into the direction of the voice that actually did belong to his friend. Hinamori had her backpack slung over one shoulder and a tray of food in her arms, and of course her smile over her face. She sat across from him at the table. "Hello, Ichimaru-sensei!"

"Ah Hina-chan, good to see ya'. M'glad Snowy has ya to take care of 'im." Both students turned red, one from anger and the other for a different reason.

"How do you two know each other," Toshiro glared daggers at Ichimaru, who dare disrespect his friend. It was disrespectful in his eyes at least, as most things escaped Hinamori's view.

"He teaches my English class, of course!" Toshiro wet his lips; Of course, we're in the same grade and need that class. He inwardly cursed himself at the silly question. Still, he glared at the ever-smiling teacher and began wiping his chopsticks furiously with his napkin.

"Git rid of them cooties of mine, Shiro-chan."

"Don't you have a class to lecture," Hitsugaya tried to withhold his spite, but it never worked out well for him.

"Fiesty, an' yeah, I do actually. Bye bye, Hina-chan, Shiro-tan. Thanks for th' lunch." He waved his long fingers and sauntered off, licking his lips in Hitsugaya's direction before going. The action was unsetting to say the least. "Oh, an' Snowy, don't forget we have tutorin' tomarra'!" He called, walking backwards through the masses of lunching students towards his classroom hidden behind the cafeteria. Hitsugaya shook his head; of course he wanted to forget about it. Ichimaru had only scheduled that extra session on Friday so Hitsugaya had time over the weekend to start working on a structure for their first paper. It wasn't difficult, since he'd done it that night, but he still hated needing to spend more time with his tutor. He hadn't said anything about the groceries in class that morning, which he was thankful for, but he figured he'd find some way to bring it into conversation. Hitsugaya ate his bento while he listened to Hinamori explain what a "glamorous morning" she had. She always said that, it was refreshing.

"Toshiro?" He looked up from his box, chewing on his rice and nori.

"Hmn?"

"You weren't listening!"

"I heard every word until you said my name. Then it left." Hinamori giggled, taking a drink of her apple juice.

"You're always spacey, Toshiro-chan. I said that the girl I sit with in Biology asked if you and I were dating!"

"That is very odd."

"Oh, don't say that, you make it sound like we aren't compatible! Lots of people can be compatible with each other and love each other, like family! I guess it just shows more since I knew you before school and everyone else didn't!"

"I'm surprised they weren't calling you a cradle-snatcher." The ends of his mouth quirked up into a grin. A horrible strike on his pride, certainly, but it made Hinamori erupt in laughter.

"Well actually…no I'm kidding! That's funny, Toshiro. You aren't that young, you're so smart, though! Smarter than me!"

"Don't say that, Hinamori-chan, you were top of your class. You told me so." Hitsugaya took another bite of his lunch and savoring the taste as it came to the last of it.

"I'm not the one skipping middle school, you're so lucky. Middle school isn't fun for anybody. Now you get to have class with people that are mature, like you!"

Hah, mature, right. Toshiro gave a nod, agreeing that middle school gave nearly all a painful memory for some reason or another. He couldn't call his classmates mature when they were throwing paper fringes at him, or even Nnoitra naming fruits in anyone's direction. He continued eating his lunch as Momo discussed the popular gossip she had been hearing about upperclassmen or something. Hitsugaya did want to give his friend his attention, but he didn't really care about the other students, especially if he didn't know them. He cared about Hinamori, no one else.

"But yeah, Miriko-chan and Kira-kun must have had an argument because she's been in a horrible mood all day."

"Everyone seems to be having an off day, today."

"Oh, maybe. You're good at reading people, Toshiro-chan. I don't see why you don't like making friends."

"I'm not good with people, you're mistaken."

"Sure, alright, mister modest. Come on; let's walk to the third floor together." She stood, taking her tray with. Hitsugaya closed his bento and retied the ribbon around his chopsticks. He grimaced a little, but didn't want to make Hinamori question him if he suddenly wanted to throw them away. Even if he'd just eaten off of them, he'd hold a grudge against the betraying sticks. He headed upstairs with her, parting ways at the stairwell to go to their own classes.

"I mean, fudge! What the …argh, fuck!" Ishida was never one for swearing, but he'd already said fudge and crap too much in his rant session and it was wearing on his Home Ec classmate, Nova. Ishida had already furiously sewn through his apron pattern and completed the thing, now he was making numerous pin cushions to stab with his specialty needles. His red-haired desk mate was an excellent listener, even if he refused to talk most days. He wasn't to be confused with a long red-haired boy that sat with the senior members of the class that Uryuu never gave the time of day to remember. Nova wore his usual hoodie with fur trim, as well as a black and grey striped scarf with a red X on the ends. When he did speak he said that he was often called cold-blooded and hated any temperature that wasn't above 75 degrees. Uryuu and Nova were probably compatible for reasons that people judged first and asked questions never. They were just considered outcasts.

"Sounds as though the matter is stressing you out, Ishida, judging from your language." What could have given him that idea? Ishida sighed, stitching another pin cushion that had taken the form of a rabbit in his blind anger.

"Yeah, I'd consider it stressing. I just don't get what he meant, or why he'd skip Chemistry."

"You can't remember anything?"

"No, well, some flashes, I guess." Uryuu wished he'd have been more perceptive about his surroundings now. "There was that girl bothering us, I remember that. Then…not much, really."

"You didn't drink, did you?"

"No way, I mean, people were and it smelled bad but I wouldn't take any of it. I had some grape soda…" Nova didn't reply, cutting out his pieces of fabric for pockets. "Though…I feel like he gave me something else. I don't think I drank any of it but…he brought me stuff because I didn't want to go in the kitchen. A bunch of those weirdoes were in there hollering and drinking." Nova said nothing again, but he looked at Uryuu, having come to his own conclusion. He waited for Ishida to think of it too. "You don't think…"

"He slipped something in your drink?"

"Shoot!" He stabbed a needle into the bunny. "You weren't supposed to say what I was thinking!"

"I apologize."

"Gah…" Ishida ran his hand through his hair, then went back to straighten it out. Just because he was frazzled and sleep-deprived didn't mean he had to look like it. Nova began stitching his patterns with calm whirrs of the sewing machine. Uryuu watched him for a moment before sighing, going back to cutting strips of lace from his supply to add to the apron. How could Szayel slip something into his drink? Well, he knew how, but how could he have been so careless? It would explain his absent memory, and waking up in Szayel's apartment, but it sure didn't explain the number in his phone and why the fearless senior was avoiding him. His memory had failed him, and it was really causing him problems with figuring out what was going on. "Nova, what should I do?"

"You do have his number. Text him."

"And say what?"

"What else, ask what happened." Uryuu sighed, somehow doubting the honesty he'd get if he did ask. Szayel was obviously not the most trustworthy guy if this is how he handled his problems, whatever they were.

"I suppose I could try."

"Good." Nova nodded. A loud grinding sound made them look in the direction of the other red-head and his friends. A machine shook and sputtered before stopping, the black haired male in front of it pushing himself from the peddle. His bald friend erupted into laughter, and was punched in the arm.

"Hisagi! I told you to take it easy on these machines!" Matsumoto-sensei stood from her desk, her breasts nearly popping out from the sudden movement.

"Sorry, teach!"

"That's sensei!" the lot of boys chuckled comically, the long red-haired boy having to cover his mouth as baldy whispered something to him. Nova watched as they regrouped to appear as though they were working, which wasn't so much the case. Uryuu looked back at his friend, waiting a moment as he kept his eyes focused on them a bit longer. Nova met his eyes and moved his scarf up over his face, though he was unable to hide a blush.

"That would be my advice to you, Ishida-kun."

"Right, thanks." He quirked an eyebrow but went back to work, keeping an eye on his friend, who was keeping his eyes elsewhere.

"Shit, Shuu, that thing about made your hand an oven mitt." Renji chuckled, trying to keep his voice down.

"Yeah, frills an' all!" Ikkaku laughed next to him. Shuuhei gave him a hard jab in the arm.

"Hisagi! I told you to take it easy on these machines!"

"Sorry, teach!" Renji's black haired classmate smiled an award-winning smile at the teacher. Ikkaku was looking somewhere else on her, however, making the blonde woman scowl even more.

"That's sensei!" Hisagi chuckled, turning back to the other two. Ikkaku shook himself to get his eyes away from her chest, but got a grin.

"She said the same thin' ta me at Ulquiorra's party, man." Reni could barely contain the laughter threatening his throat. Ikkaku had a seriously not-serious thing with Matsumoto-sensei, so much so he invited her himself. He considered it a brilliant success, but Renji called it "risky and completely retarded". Shuuhei invited Yumachika, the lithe feminine male of their senior posse. He wasn't in class with them today because of some kind of appointment or whatever, but that was his loss. Renji had spent most of his time Friday with these three, considering Ichigo went off with his newer Hueco friends. There were alright, he guessed, but Ichigo didn't even seem interested in knowing the seniors. They were pretty cool, even if they were vulgar.

"Hey Shuu, Scarfy is lookin' over here." Ikkaku said, making Renji look over his shoulder. The kid down the aisle of machines with winter clothing on was indeed looking over, but once Renji and ikkaku had looked back, he faced forward and talked to the navy-haired boy by him. Renji blinked, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't even caught the other boy's name; he was the quiet geeky type if he hung out with homework boy. He looked at Shuuhei to see his response, to find him still looking over that way. He locked eyes with Renji and sat up straight, pulling the chair back up to his machine.

"Weirdo."

"Yeah really. But dude, your apron looks like cow shit now."

"Says you, numbskull." Shuuhei untangled his thread from the needle of the machine. Renji gave him a strange look, but Ikkaku started ranting about the skull comments and distracted him from wondering about Shuu's change in mood.

Tuesday…

Ichimaru placed his stick of chalk on the railing in front of his board as the bell rang. The students left the room in their usual hurry to get to their net class. He turned his back on them fluidly, using the large eraser to rid the board of his lecture. He got it all clear once the room was silent, turning back and sitting in his chair in one fluid motion. He was about to stretch when he stopped, his eyes opening in the smallest sliver to spy his star student in front of his desk. He always had that scowl on his face.

"Mah, how can I help ya', Snowy-cha—" He was interrupted from finishing by a box being thrust towards him. It was a Bento that had an ice blue ribbon tied around it, as well as a pair of chopsticks that looked quite new. Ichimaru looked at it before up at the holder, their crystal eyes meeting for a moment.

"Grandmother said that you can have this." He said, forcing it his way again. Ichimaru didn't hesitate to take it from him, setting it on his desk. His grin wavered and a normal smile appeared for the moment.

"Ah, she's indeed a kind woman. Thank ya', Toshi-chan. You still ain't getting' out o' tutorin' today."

"I-don't think this was some sort of bribe, it was completely her idea, so that you'd stop trying to eat my food!" Toshiro held his precious binder tighter and stormed off, Gin relishing in the flustered expression Toshiro was now wearing. He left the classroom quickly, but he'd be back in a few hours. Ichimaru looked back at the bento. He was a bit hungry, since dinner last night consisted of grading papers and microwave pizza. He shrugged, an early lunch wouldn't kill him after all. He had this period off and not lunch hour. He tugged the ribbon free and set the chopsticks aside, pulling the lid off.

The box was filled with octopus sausages and onigiri. He snickered a little as they appeared to be shaped like foxes with some of the inner flavoring rolled into eyes. Bless Grandmother Hitsugaya, his stomach was rumbling. He set the lid aside and reached for the chopsticks pausing as a note was taped to the inside lid of the bento.

Ichimaru-sensei,

Toshiro has told me that you don't have a lunch period and purchased some unhealthy dinners for yourself at the grocery store. I apologize for getting into your business, but I hope you enjoy these more.

Also, as Toshiro would probably not ask you, I'd like to invite you over for dinner tomorrow. It's a special day and I still feel the need to thank you for helping Toshiro.

Enjoy,

Hyourin Hitsugaya

Ichimaru read it over once more, getting a grin, he folded it up and put it into his shirt pocket. "Mah, granny Hitsugaya, you give me too much credit. I don't deserve your thanks." He took a bite of his sausage, contentment making him sag in his chair.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to accept her offer.

A/N: inb4 creepy Ichimaru comments. XD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a comment regarding the rating of this story. Don't worry, things will come back together in the next chapter, because nothing comes from nothing!