„I'm too pathetic to ignore you... I'll let you hurt me again..."
'What are we?'
"Ichigoo~! Listen to me!" The orange head was sitting near his school desk and looking through the window. It was the end of summer break, school duties called back. "I-CHI-GO!" So many things, freaking complicated things, and yet everything seemed as if nothing had happened. Just like all the events were nothing else, but a short, 5-minute episodes in his life. "ICHIGO!" He felt something stinging between two of his ribs and, naturally reacting, he punched the source of pain really hard. "Owie! Why have you done that!?" A student with arm-length, brown hair pouted at his musing friend, rubbing his just-punched head.
"Because you won't shut up, Keigo." Ichigo growled and came back to looking through his window. A few people were sitting on a small bench outside. Among them he had recognized the aquamarine eyed boy, who seemingly had a great time with his new company. This was a completely normal behavior for Kaien, Ichigo knew it. And that was what made him think.
"Why the heck are you observing the school square?"
"Watching some hot chicks in tight miniskirts." His face was nothing, but annoyed, when suddenly his comrade shown up beside him and was looking for the so-said chicks. No surprise, that there weren't any. "You're really dumb."
"Hey, wait a second..." Keigo made a funny-serious face and glared at the orange. "You're gay."
"No way, you're kidding..." This fact was so obvious and Ichigo didn't want to comment this.
"Wait... could it be...?" Keigo inhaled deeply and unexpectedly hugged Ichigo tightly. "MY DEAR ICHIGO! You've finally noticed the beauty of woman's body! !!Are you finally straig-UPH!!!' His hug changed into powerful kick from Ichigo's side and so he was lying on the floor, holding his belly firmly.
"You really can't sense sarcasm, can you?" And so he came back to his observations. He ignored pained complaints coming from the floor (or rather his friend) and paid attention only on Kaien. The other neither hated him nor... well, was there any second option? That unforgettable evening he had done it, then both of them went to sleep and in the morning Kaien asked him what he wanted to eat for breakfast. It was really normal. Too normal to him. He knew the black haired HAD to change his way of looking at him... In some way...
'Dammit! Why is he so hard to see through!?' Ichigo thought angrily. His friend was the master of hiding emotions and thoughts. Even though they knew each other for 6 years, and he learned to guess Kaien's thinking, it was still impossible to read him clearly. Maybe he wasn't a good example of showing his feelings, but Ichigo at least was more expressive. 'Kaien has this damn smiling face all the time. Is he really happy or just faking it?' Considering how his friend was over-optimistic, it was truly hard to tell. But that didn't matter. He really needed to talk to Kaien, as soon as possible! He really needed to know the answer. 'What am I to you, Kaien?' Such a bother. After what he had done he couldn't stop think about his friend (or whoever he was). This stupid feeling from earlier childhood came back. Crush on Kaien. Maybe he'd catch him later, the school bell rang and the boy with his group of friends stood up. Another day of uncertainty.
Weeks passed. Still no courage to approach his friend and talk about that evening. No, they weren't talking with each other, at all... Unspoken distance was placed between them and was getting bigger with every second, minute, day. He was ignored.
P.E. Lesson. All boys had to practice basketball, girls – volleyball. It was a tiring day (they had 3 hours of p.e. right before ending school). Their teacher, Zaraki Kenpachi, showed no mercy to his poor students, making them run, do push-ups, run more and play dangerous games. The second hour of sports had just begun.
"All right, you man pansies! Get your fucking lazy asses here, you're going to play a dodge ball, you freaking peanut-brains understand?" All boys gulped and nodded in fear. Girls seemed to make fun of their misery. "Good. Asano and Abarai, form teams." The brown-haired coward and tattooed redhead stepped out of the crowd and played rock-paper-scissors to decide who was going to begin. Asano's paper against Abarai's rock. The brown male jumped in joy.
"YAY! Finally, I'm the first! Finally! I'm definitely picking up Ichigo!" Keigo pointed at the orange head, making Renji growl and glare at the rival captain, so Asano hid behind Kurosaki's back immediately. Ichigo glared back and turned his face away.
"Che. Madarame." Abarai called a bald headed boy, standing at the very end.
"I'm not going anywhere if Yumichika don't go too." The bald head scowled, putting his head on a boy, standing near him.
"My, Ikkaku, you don't need to be so impulsive." The black haired boy with feathers coming from his brow and sparkling aura.
"FINE! Ayasegawa comes too!" He needed to form a really strong group, but without bald guy it might be hard.
"Hey, that's not fair! You've picked two guys!" Keigo whined.
"Then pick also two, you idiot!" Renji shouted.
"So mean... Hmm... Who should it be... Chad." Keigo pointed at a big Mexican guy, who weren't even looking like a high school student. "And..." His finger was searching for another person. "Kaien!" Ichigo's eyes widened. Sure, he and Kaien were really good at dodge ball, but, in their situation, should they be in the same group? Oh, wait... There was no way Abarai would pick Kaien and Keigo had no clue what happened between them. Abarai again glared, this time at the black haired boy, but was totally ignored.
"Jesus Christ, what's taking you so damn long to pick players!" The teacher was on the edge of his nerves. "Pick up quickly! One, one, one!" Renji huffed.
"Hisagi."
"Umm... Mizuiro."
"Kira."
"...Ishida." 'Fuck no, Ishida...' At the same time Kaien ad Ichigo thought the same, making a pale, blue eyed and haired boy glare, while correcting his glasses on his nose.
"Jagre...Jaqu... Jaqin...?" Renji had problems with spelling another player's name, so he just pointed.
"If you can't freaking say 'Jeagerjaques', then at least say 'Grimmjaw'!" A teal haired teen with rebellious look shouted and joined Abarai's team.
"Hirako."
"Che. Schiffer." Renji picked the last person and looked around. "And what the heck is it!?" The redhead shouted. "There's no one else to pick up! Teacher, how the hell are we supposed to play dodge ball with only 7 people in the team!?" Zaraki rubbed his chin in thought. Damn, it sure was to little to play. He looked at girls, thinking of cruel and crazy idea. Girls already knew what it was. Asano and Abarai blinked in confusion.
"If none of you, girls, are pussies, then fight with boys." Of course, some girls backed away, simply scared of being hit. "Che. Asano, Abarai, pick any of girls." Another recruitment was made. Keigo picked Matsumoto (Renji also wanted to take a big-boobed blond, but the perverted brown head was the first to pick), Inoue, Tatsuki, Kuchki and Hinamori. Renji was left with Soi Fon, Yourichi (well, he didn't complain), Chizuru (though she desperately wanted to be in the team with Inoue), Nemu and there was no girl left, instead of...
"YAY! Ken-chan, Pineapple's team doesn't have one girl! Can I play with them? Can I? Can I?" From behind Kenpachi's back a small, probably 10-year-old, girl with pink hair and crimson cheeks popped up from nowhere and squealed happily. It was Kusajika Yachiru, Zaraki's adopted daughter. The redhead's team roared in refusal, but the teacher's glare silenced them immediately. "Hurray! I can play!" She joined others happily and both teams had to move to their places. Kenpachi told well-know rules, though instead of usual 2 balls he ordered to bring 6 balls. Groups had some time to plan attack and defense, so everyone gathered in two small rounds.
"Okay, guys... As a captain I'd like start with-" Asano wanted to begin with his small talk, but suddenly a pale, thin hand silenced him. The blue haired geek coughed to draw everyone's attention.
"Tactics are the most important thing here. Their group is better with strength, so we need to be better with brains. The strongest among us will throw, the rest have to catch and hand ball over the strongest."
"Yeah, and we're all almighty that thrown balls will go through us." Ichigo said sarcastically.
"Kurosaki, don't interrupt. Of course dodging is important, but we need to think about the style of fighting."
"What is here to discuss? We need to beat them up as fast as we can!"
"And what about defense, you simple-minded idiot?" Ishida corrected his glass again, his eyes twitching in annoyance. "You want us to lose? Then fight alone."
"Like hell I will, four-eyes! We'll win." The orange was maximum angered, he was ready to punch the geek.
"Dumb bag of muscles."
"Idiotic geek-alien."
"Loser."
"Sucker."
"Stop it already!!" Their argument was interrupted by Arisawa Tatsuki, a tomboyish spike haired girl.
"Shut up! It's all his fault!" Both males shouted the same at Tatsuki and now the girl, irritated by childish behavior, joined the quarrel.
"T-Tatsuki-chan! Kurosaki-kun! Ishida-kun! D-Don't fight!" Everyone sighed, knowing that Inoue Orihime's begging won't work. Hirako Shinji, a tall blond with pierced tongue, seemed to be bored with whole situation; all girls wanted to stop quarrel Ishida vs. Arisawa vs. Kurosaki; Mizuiro tried to comfort sobbing Keigo, who was completely forgotten. Ichigo shouted all curses towards the glass-eyed and tomboy, when he felt a painful punch on his head. He growled and grabbed his head. It was Kaien's fist, which did the damage. The other two, participating in quarrel, were shouting curses when Sado 'Chad' Yasutora lifted them both and shook them violently.
"Thanks for help, Sado." Kaien grinned an the big boy put the students down. "Now, if we want to win, then all of us need to know what TEAMWORK is." He said it calmly, though everyone could feel some pressure of evil aura. It was silencing everyone effectively. "Well, those who are not sure of their strength, just dodge, we'll catch missed balls later. Arisawa-san, Chad, Ichigo and I are going to be attackers, so we'll be taking the front. Rangiku-san (Matsumoto), you'll be in the middle and also attack. Inoue-chan, Momo-chan, Mizuiro and Hirako – you're catching and dodging. Rukia, Keigo and Ishida- pick your places." A petite girl with purple, sobbing brown head and geek-alien blinked. Well, they were the weakest, after all.
"I-I'll join Rangiku-san." Rukia Kuchki answered.
"I want to be one of attackers!!" Keigo shouted desperately, making all attackers sigh in hopelessness.
"I-I'll be covering your backs..." Ishida mumbled in annoyance.
When everything was settled and groups shouted their motivating calls, the game started. It was one of the hardest dodge ball they ever had. Just at the beginning, Keigo, Mizuiro and Hinamori got hit and they had leave the group. Rangiku and Rukia were doing their best, the first attacking and the second catching and giving all rubber balls to attackers. Ishida were shouting some random commands, like aiming someone particular in rival group. The others had better time. Abarai and his group were just throwing and catching. His group had only two weaklings: Kira Izuru and Ulquiorra Schiffer, but both of theme were flexible enough to dodge all flying objects. After some beaten people later...
Only Kaien and Ichigo were standing against Grimmjaw, Renji, Ikkaku and... Yachiru, which seemed to be the best attacker boys had ever seen. The orange and black panted in exhaustion.
"Well, only two small fries left." The teal eyed and haired student laughed, making both his rivals glare. "Let's end this, shall we?" Everyone in his team nodded and so, the wave of rubber balls came. The didn't bother to attack back, all Ichigo and Kaien were doing was dodging. Well, sometimes, if they were lucky, they would catch another ball and throw back, but it was completely useless. The were keeping dodging and rivals throwing, until something happened. Renji's eye blinked at Grimmjaw, sending him an unknown signal. The other nodded and, with the greatest force, threw at Kaien. The sea-eyed looked in terror, when the ball from Grimmjaw almost hit his stomach. But that wasn't as terrible as the ball from Renji, which hit him directly in his face. The tactic of this double shoot was brilliant. Ichigo shouted and ran to his friend, looking at the damage. Nose was completely broken and blood was pouring down. Kenpachi chuckled at drawn blood, enjoying the view. However, everyone in Keigo's team stood up and started to ask, if the student was ok. The same thing did some rivals from opposite team. Zaraki had no other choice, but to whistle and officially end the game, with Renji's team as winners.
"Che, to stop game at this point. I was getting interesting. Kurosaki, take Shiba to the infirmary. The rest, 50 laps around the gym! Move your asses!" Everyone nodded, still concerned about Kaien's state. Ichigo grabbed his friend's shoulder and they headed towards the school nurse.
"Here, take that." Ichigo found in his pocket a small handkerchief and put it on Kaien's bleeding nose. The other nodded, taking the gift and holding. The piece of cloth started to change its color, from pure white to crimson. "This doesn't look good, at all."
"Well, I assure you it hurts even worse than it looks." Ichigo nodded, deciding to shut his mouth and not bother his friend in pain. They reached the room of school nurse, but to their surprise it was empty. There was a small note on the desk: "For coming students - if you have any minor problems, just help yourselves, leave me only a note who are you, what happened to you and what you used (I'll be definitely checking it!). If it's a life-death situation, call 911 and look for me in the biology class. Cheers, Unohana-sensei.". Ichigo growled and looked at Kaien, who had already sat on one of the nurse's beds. The handkerchief was soaked with blood and single red drops were falling on the floor. "Shit, what now?" Kaien growled. Ichigo sighed, it wasn't a life-death situation, so he was forced to handle it by himself.
"Wait a second, I'll bring everything." Having a doctor and running a family clinic was enough to teach Ichigo some basic treatments and first aid. He opened a drawer and pulled out some bandages, a gauze pad, some ice and a wet towel. He put them on a small table near him. "Show me your nose." Kaien put away the red cloth. His nose was swollen and blood was everywhere. It was crooked. "Dammit... Hold still for a moment." Kaien's eyes widened when Ichigo grabbed his nose, so he pushed the tanned hand away.
"What the hell are you doing!? It freaking hurts!!" Kaien moved back, his hands pushing Ichigo's.
"Your nose is crooked. I have to set it, so stop moving!" The orange head tried again to grab other's nose, but he met with bigger resistance.
"No way I'll let you! Stop doing it and go get Unohana-sensei!"
"I've done it plenty of freaking times! And she's now absent!" Ichigo's patience run out and he stood up. Kaien looked confused, when his friend grabbed both his wrists and, with a powerful push, he was lying on the bed with Ichigo on top of him. The way both of them were lying made the black haired feel awkward. Ichigo, again, took Kaien's nose. "Stay... STILL!" The bloody nose was twisted and Ichigo moved it roughly, setting it into the right place.
"OW, FUCK!" It felt like ages, though Ichigo let his nose go after a millisecond. Something cracked inside his nose and it made another stream of blood pour down. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" He was rolling from side to side and screaming in pain. Ichigo helped him sit on the bed and grabbed the wet towel to wipe off some blood from his face, put the thick gauze pad under nose holes and wrapped it around the black head with bandage.
"Here, put some ice, it'll help stop the bleeding." He placed the bag between Kaien's nose and forehead. Sympathy overwhelmed Ichigo, he definitely wouldn't like to be in such a state. He had to talk to Renji... "Still hurts?" Kaien nodded, so Ichigo again looked through drawers and gave his friend two pills of painkiller.
"Thanks." Meds were swallowed immediately. Both of them decided to stay in the infirmary, until the end of P.E. Kaien took advantage of the bed and lay down, Ichigo was sitting on the place of the school nurse, near the desk. Silence... Ichigo sighed, quite saddened. Normally they would talk enthusiastically and complain about the stupid tattooed redhead and freaky teal-haired asshole.
"Say, Kaien..." Ichigo started insecurely. The aquamarine orbs landed on him, full of questioning confusion. "Do... Do you hate me?" Kaien blinked and sat up. He thought for a moment and chuckled.
"Well, if it really was necessary to set my nose, then I'll forgive you." Kaien smirked, but it seemed not to affect his companion.
"You know I'm not talking about it..." The black haired boy blinked again and, again, thought. The answer came quickly and he made a silent 'oh...'.There was another silence, none of boys dared to speak first. Kaien sighed.
"I don't hate you. Maybe what you had done was quite odd, to be precise, but I didn't want to stop you."
"What are we then, Kaien?" Ichigo had to know. Were they lovers? Friends? Enemies? Strangers? He really wanted to hear the answer he longed for, but to his disappointment Kaien answered.
"We're friends, isn't that obvious?" Ichigo's heart stopped and he paled, face suddenly turning white. "Look, I'm really sorry if you expected me that we're something more, but I... I just don't feel it..." Kaien bit his lip, thinking about appropriate use of words. "What you had done showed me that you might have deeper feelings for me. But I can't return them to you. I may love you as a brother, but nothing more." Ichigo's sight fell on the floor. Anger with sorrow were mixing together inside his brain.
"So, what you're trying to say is that it'd be better to forget what happened?"
"It's impossible to forget something like that, but I don't think I want to recall that all the time." He thought again, worried that right now his and Ichigo's friendship are on the edge of steep cliff. "You know, I also didn't tell Miyako what happened and I don't want to. Ichigo..." He moved closer and put his pale hand on tanned, seeing how miserable his friend looked. "We've been together for almost 7 years and I don't want it to be lost. No matter with who I'm talking to or with who I'm going out, you'll always be the most important to me. I'd even die for you." Ichigo felt exactly the same towards Kaien, but...
"I can't..." But only being friends, he might not be able to bear it. Kaien's eyes were scared and a small sorrow was building up within him. "I can't live like this... I'm sorry." Reluctantly, he pushed his friend's hand away and looked at the sea orbs. "Even if I say that I would be your friend, it might not work for long. I really like you, not as a friend, not as a brother and so my feelings won't change so fast. One day I might..." He felt hot tears gathering in his eyes, but he forced himself not to cry. "I might do something stupid, just like that day. And that's why it'd be better for us to stop being friends..." His own words were cutting his throat like knives. And so were they Kaien. Sometimes Ichigo was wondering how much damage could words do. Weren't actions more important then some cliché sentences? Obviously, he was wrong. Deadly wrong. The picture he had in front of his ocher eyes, this pale, miserable face with eyes, beautiful sea eyes, that started to get watery. One day he promised to himself that he'd never make his friend feel hollow. And here, today, in the school nurse's room, he was saying a few words, which were slicing through Kaien's feelings. Ichigo laughed at himself, despising his ruthlessness and lack of courage, and stood up. "P.E. classes are probably done. I'm going home." Kaien shook his head and stood up as well, grabbing Ichigo's arm to hold him for a moment.
"Wait, Ichigo!"
"It's useless, Shiba. I've already decided..." He shoved the other and ran as fast as he could, only to be far away from his ex-friend. The black haired was standing, no expression on his face, only black, hollow hole inside him. Even if it was Ichigo, who ended their friendship officially, it was all his fault. He hated talking on uneasy topics, so he tried to avoid them as much as possible. The matter with him and Ichigo, that unforgettable day they spent on touching themselves, he also tried to ignore. And that was what he got. Ichigo broke...
Autumn was ending, it was colder and colder outside, even first snowflakes started to appear. Ichigo was sitting on the school rooftop. It was the same place where he made one of his biggest mistakes – agreed to go out with Renji. Well, actually that time he was really happy, he wouldn't thought of the redhead as a sex maniac. Since the day he decided to distance himself from Kaien, he had been sitting alone and even if his friends were asking him what happened between him and the black haired, he would just ignore, or growl 'Nothing...'. It surely was painful, especially the first days. Kaien was phoning him and every time Yuzu called for Ichigo, he would just pretend to be asleep or listen to music deafeningly loud. He so wanted to talk to him, he even wanted to go and apologize like never and beg for his friend to forget what he had said. But the pride was blocking it. He knew Kaien would accept the apology, but then he wouldn't be the same, at all. Yes, it was freaking painful, the distance was killing him. He looked at the snow clouds, expecting for some snowing when suddenly he heard someone entering the roof. He thought it might be just some random students, so he ignored it.
"I though I'd meet you here, Kurosaki." This voice was too familiar and he felt himself getting red from it. What was HE doing here? Ichigo turned around with surprise to see Kaien standing in front of him. "I was looking for you, but Kurosaki was nowhere inside the school." Kurosaki... He totally hated it. But he couldn't blame Kaien, for it was him, who insisted on stopping calling by first name (and it was a little bit after their 'break up').
"What do you want, Shiba?" He also hated himself for saying to his ex-friend his surname. His voice was strange, emotionless, but it only made Shiba chuckle sadly.
"Just have something to tell you." Kaien gulped. He tried not to break himself, otherwise he would just jump and hug Ichigo tightly, bursting into tears and begging him to stop his cold acting towards him. All phone calls he made were ignored. All his attempts to talk with the orange head were also ignored. So many days had passed and it seemed even more would pass. He took a deep breath. "Kurosaki, I'm moving from Karakura." Ichigo couldn't help, but make a shocked face and gawk.
"W-What?" He sounded to concerned for his liking.
"I'm moving to Tokyo." Kaien carried on. "Dad and mom found a better job there and they decided to bring me and others." He felt slightly happy that Ichigo looked as if he cared, but he didn't expected any more than that. Ichigo gathered his lost pieces of coldness and again made his careless face. He only nodded and looked at the sky. "I thought that you should know." Ichigo nodded again. Actually, his insides were broken into pieces.
"When?" He asked simply, still holding back showing any concern.
"Tomorrow morning." Tomorrow would be the last time he'd see those sea orbs? This annoying grin? This happy-furious personality? Kaien made one of his saddest smiles and bowed before his ex-friend. "I'm happy that I've known you for so long. And I'm sorry for any troubles I made." He straightened up, invisible tears on the edge of falling. "It's farewell, then. Goodbye... Ichigo..." Not even waiting for any reply, he turned around and left the roof. Ichigo stood, completely dumbstruck. His name was said so painfully and was filled with sadness. It had never been spoken like that before. He started to laugh. It was hysteria. What he gained by ending their friendship? He felt so stupid, almost suicidal...
Tomorrow morning...
Kuukaku was shouting at her mother, who didn't approved taking all her bags with all bizarre stuff she loved to collect. Ganjyu was helping his father to take all the luggage and mount it on the roof of their car. Everyone were in hurry and excited about moving. Everyone, except Kaien. Yesterday, he said goodbye to all his friends, making them cry, wish luck and assure they would be sending him letters. He exchanged addresses with almost everyone in his class. But he didn't dare to show it to Ichigo. He tried to say to himself, that maybe Ichigo cared and was hiding it, but he couldn't do anything. Sigh escaped from his lips when the thought of seeing him before his departure blinked in his mind. He knew it was impossible for Ichigo to come.
"NO! My noble friends are going to leave me alone! I SHALL GIVE YOU MY SUPER KUROSAKI FAREWELL GIFT!" A familiar voice rang in his ear, it was Ichigo's father. He looked through the window and saw whole Kurosaki family coming to say good-bye. Wait... WHOLE? His aquamarine eyes must be making fool of him, because he recognized the orange locks, accompanied with tanned face and immortal scowl. Why Ichigo came here? He didn't know, but decided to stay in his room, maybe his parents won't say where he was. "How are you doing, my old friend!?" Isshin hugged Mr. Shiba, making him laugh and hug back.
"It's been a long time, Isshin. I'm quite sad that we have to leave this town." Yato made a sad expression, making the oldest Kurosaki cry in sympathy. "I see you brought your kids with you." Yuzu, Karin and Ichigo bowed their heads in greeting. "I bet we all are going to miss you."
"Che, as if I'm going to miss that little midget!" Kuukaku pointed at Karin.
"The same goes to you, you gorilla." Karin pointed at Kuukaku.
"Girls, girls. You may say it now, but you'll notice one day, that you can't live without each other and that your arguments are just your way to show affection and say 'I really love you'!" Isshin tried to draw everyone's attention and to calm down girls, but he met their shout 'SHUT UP, GOAT-FACE!' and so he tried to find a corner, where he could sob.
"And so you came, Ichigo-chan." Mrs. Shiba gave her cheerful smile, making the orange head embarrassed and look away. "Kaien should be inside the house in his room."
"N-No, I don't..." Ichigo knew that saying 'I don't want to see him' would be just plainly rude. Miira blinked in confusion and sighed in worry. Seeing her face saddened Ichigo changed his mind. "I-I'll go and s-see him!" He rushed into the house, slamming the door nervously. Mrs. Shiba smiled sadly and moved to her husband, who wrapped his hand around her shoulders and kissed gently her cheek. Isshin also sighed, expression changed to serious.
"I really wonder what happened between those two..." Miira looked at the window, where Kaien's room was.
"Whatever it was, we shouldn't be ones to interrupt." Isshin claimed. "They're old enough to solve their own problems."
"Yeah, that reminds me of the times, when those two were fighting with each other and we had to stop them and make them apologize." Mr. Shiba also added some words. "But, back then, they were only kids."
"Friendships begins, friendships ends... Though I'd be really glad, if those two made up." Both men nodded at Miira's wishful thinking.
While adults were thinking about two boys, Kaien heard knocking on his door. He looked through the window, Ichigo not to bee seen. Dammit, so he was behind the door. With a deep breath, he stood up and pulled a door knob. It was him.
"What do you want?" He didn't mean to sound so harsh, actually, he wanted to glomp Ichigo.
"Your mom wanted me to see you." Again, this emotionless facade... Kaien knew kicking Ichigo out would make questions, so he only sighed and let his ex-friend in. Ichigo looked around. Everything that Kaien was collecting was gone, the only things left were a desk, a wardrobe and a bed. Everything was becoming more and more empty. He really wanted to get out of this place or make Kaien disappear. "All your stuff are in the car, I assume?"
"You assumed it right." It was a hollow conversation. Oh, how he wished everything would change. He wasn't even sure, if he liked him ONLY as a brother. "You still want me to become your lover?" Ichigo's eyes grew big. Did he misheard something or Kaien got insane? The black head looked at the floor, thinking how in the Heaven's name he could ask such a thing. I heard small steps, growing louder and louder towards him. The tanned hand grabbed his chin gently and made his eyes meet with chocolate orbs. They were mixed and full of emotions. Just like he used to be. But this emotion was a saddening one. "Ichigo..."
"You know that I would never do something you don't want to do. That's why, even if I died for it, I'll never try to force you." Something inside Kaien blinked. It was unreadable for him, but that thing seemed to make its move. Kaien leaned closer and put his mouth on Ichigo's cheek, kissing it gently. Ichigo froze, not sure how he was supposed to react at this 'odd' affection. The meaning of this kiss was known to him and the only thing he could say was: "Farewell, Kaien."
AG-RO-TAG's NOTE!!!
It seems like a lame chapter to me... But Ichigo and Kaien parted. And it doesn't seem they'll be together for long (I'm so cruel xD) But fear not! I'll quicken things up ;P
Hope you enjoyed!