A/N: Well...this is embarrassing haha. I wasn't expecting to have updated before the New Year. And I really wanted this chapter to be the one to bring in the brand new year, but oh well. The next one will be just as fitting based on my planning. Had free time today so I wrote and fixed this one up for you all. It kind of made me smile as I wrote it :)

(Unrelated): I finished Code Geass R1 and 2. Cried quite a bit. I initially never wanted to watch it, but was drawn in by the first episode. So many tears... so many losses... It was really good though.

Promises

While it seems a broken or forgotten promise has outrun its speaker, it is sometimes the result of the world and the hands of time that have come into play. Does our humanity, the ability to forget or to be manipulated by another, mean the person who spoke the vow is so terrible?

Wednesday at ten o'clock in the morning.

Miss Misato, pumped full of adrenaline and excitement, not to mention three cups of coffee, stepped onto the first charter bus when it pulled into the school parking lot. After a brief discussion with the driver, she stepped back off.

"Well we're about to get going everyone! Since the first bus is here we'll board it shortly with the people who are here already. I'll give the stragglers a little bit longer before we leave. Who's ready for this!? YEAH!" she asked exuberantly then threw her fist into the air.

Senna, having just arrived, came out of the back door of the gymnasium and ran straight up to Renji, "Give it back, ya jerk!"

"Promise you won't do anything to ruin this trip for me then." The redhead responded.

"You know, someday maybe you'll want more than just a sexual relationship with Shuhei! I doubt you even love him!" she hissed so only he could hear.

"I think the two of us are doing fine. And it's none of your business anyway. Do we have a deal?" he asked while the thought of how he felt about Shuhei was now brought up again.

The first time was a point when he was alone, thinking about all the people in his life. The girl he could never have, the boy he was too late to have, and then the person he was with. Did he love Shuhei? It was definitely something he had pondered over and over again.

"Fine. Now hand me back my camera. I paid near one thousand yen for it!"

Renji reached in his pocket and pulled out the camera before slapping it down in the girl's hand.

Ichigo walked up to them when he arrived with his own camping gear, "Morning guys."

"Morning Ichigo. At least he, no matter how sneaky he's been lately, still loves his boyfriend." Senna said that last part to Renji.

Ichigo's smile quickly vanished. What did Senna know? How had he been sneaky lately? Did everyone know about him and Ginjo or… What was going on?

"Good morning, Ichigo. Ignore Senna. I usually try to."

Although he was still curious about Senna's comment, at least she was talking to him again. He looked up to the sky, distracting himself from their continuing banter.

The weather had indeed gotten a bit bearable for outside activities. It was strange, warmth in the middle of November, but he wasn't complaining. At least this aspect of the trip would be in his favor.

He glanced around and saw no sign of Grimmjow. Maybe he wasn't going after all.

"Looking for someone, Kurosaki?" Ishida asked as he exited the back doors of the gymnasium and entered the parking lot with Chad.

"Ishida, Chad, good morning." The boy greeted.

"Morning." Ishida said.

"Mmm." Chad muttered.

Shuhei exited the gym next and ran up to Renji, "Morning Mr. I'm Gonna Stay Up Late Playing Skyrim."

"I went to sleep at three…something… I think…"

"Well, you're not keeping me from having fun tonight. I'm gonna do the ecosystem documentation with Kira and Hinamori. Then I'll come see you after we're done."

"Aw, no fun! Do it with me!"

Senna turned away and chuckled at the statement and desperation in the redhead's voice. When Renji saw Ichigo grin, he his cheeks grew an even more intense red than his hair.

"Don't even think about copying me, Abarai." Ishida said, adjusting his glasses.

"Wasn't gonna! I have Rukia! No, you know what, I'll do it with Ikkaku and Yumichika!"

Senna turned away and giggled uncontrollably.

"Speaking of which, where is she? And where's Inoue?" Chad asked.

"Everyone, we'll begin boarding the bus right now." Miss Misato called after looking down at her watch.

Senna seemed to notice something and picked up her bags before dashing to the front of the school.

"Senna? Senna! Where are you going!?" Ichigo called.

"To get a better ride!" the girl said with a wave.

All of the boys watched as she rounded the corner and disappeared.

"Should someone follow her?" Ishida asked.

"Let her go." Renji said.

A six hour bus ride without her sounded more than good to him.

Ichigo followed the other four to the bus, still looking for Grimmjow in the crowd of students. There was still no sign of either Rukia or Inoue, and Senna had run off from everyone. The only company he'd have would be the lovesick Renji and Shuhei, and the silent duo Chad and Ishida.

And what about Tatsuki and the others? Were they on the other bus?

Well, it was too late to find out now. Miss Misato laid eyes on him and his group.

"Pick up the pace! We don't have all day, Mr. Kurosaki!" she urged.

"Right…"

What a long three and a half hours this would be…

A really bad nature-themed kid's show played on the second bus ride to the park. After the brief plane flight, everyone was, again, loaded onto two separate buses; the second was late this time around too. Still no sign of Grimmjow. Then again, Ichigo hadn't been looking for him adamantly, so there was no telling if he had come on this trip or thought it too stupid and stayed home.

Rukia, Inoue, and Senna also weren't on the plane.

Glancing down to his ipod, he saw that they only had about another fifteen minutes or so before they arrived at Daisetsuzan National Park.

"Kurosaki-kuuuuun!"

Ichigo turned as he heard his name being called loudly. It was Inoue. It sounded like she was outside.

The boy let his window down and stuck his head out. There he saw the girls in Rukia's limousine. Inoue and Senna were standing through the sunroof and Rukia herself waved from the window in the back seat.

"That's what you meant, Senna!?"

"Yup! I saw them pull into the front of the school and was like, I have to get in on this! We took a private jet to get to Hokkaido too! It was awesome!"

"Inoue! Rukia! Where have you two been!?"

Rukia smiled, "Shopping. We were getting a big tent so the three of us-"

"AHEM!"

"Oh, I mean so the four of us could share!" she answered after being corrected.

"Who is-"

"Hiiii Ichigo!" Rangiku called after jumping onto Rukia and looking out the window.

"Rangiku!?"

"Rangiku!?" a few other guys on the bus called before jumping to the windows on the side of the bus the limo was trailing them on.

"You forgot I was going on this trip, didn't you?" the honey blonde asked with false unhappiness in her voice.

"Orihimeeeeeeee!"

Everyone turned around and saw Tatsuki waving excitedly from the bus behind them.

"Tatsuki-chan!"

"Hey, what about me!?" Chizuru asked.

"Honsho! Ohaayoooooo!" Inoue smiled.

"Orihime my love! You have to sleep in my tent-mmmmphhmmm!"

"Don't mind her!" Tatsuki interrupted by covering Chizuru's mouth.

"I'm sleeping in Kuchiki-san's tent tonight! But let's do the assignment together!" Inoue offered.

Ichigo turned in the opposite direction and saw that the park was coming into view. He waved to the girls once more before sitting back in his seat and closing his window.

The six girls had all really distracted him from the lingering thoughts about Grimmjow and he was grateful for it while it had lasted.

It's really amazing how much a woman can change a man's mood… or, maybe a bunch of goofy women would be a more accurate description of them.

"Okay class, follow the instructors!" Miss Misato said.

The other, younger female teacher turned to the large group of seniors as they made their way to the campsite through a nature path and shrugged with a smile. At least someone was being enthusiastic about this trip.

It shouldn't be forgotten that this was a class assignment. As mentioned before, it was an assignment about the different ecosystems in this park. Students were to specifically document their surroundings based on the knowledge acquired through their previous science classes. It was nice to remember the basics since some of these geniuses were already in biochemistry.

The assignment was accredited to none other than Dr. Kurotsuchi, the head of the science department at the school. He claimed students were leaving Karakura without any proper observational of Japan's diverse environments.

Miss Misato entered one of the administrative stations and stayed for a few minutes. Everyone noticed some large housing buildings and wondered why they had to sleep outside.

Once they reached the campsite, everyone who had brought their tents began setting them up. Those who did not asked their friends if they could spend the next two nights with them.

It looked like everyone in Ichigo's group had brought their own tents apart from the girls who were sharing the largest one at the site. It was lavender and was probably six normal sized tents combined in one. That's how large it was.

It was a perfect display of how much money Rukia had at her disposal.

Ichigo decided he would set his tent up a bit away from everyone. Not that he was trying to be distant from them, he just thought it'd be nice to sleep away from the girls' chatting and Renji's…needs… He would miss out on some of the heat from the log fires, but that was okay. Although it would be cooler given it would be nighttime, it would be nothing like how cold his father kept the temperature at home when it was bedtime.

After he had completed setting up his tent, he decided he would go off on his own to begin his assignment. Some time away from everyone would give him time to clear his head.

He pulled out his notebook and pen from his booksack and took off down a trail that led to a clearing not very far ahead of him.

"Kuchiki-san, do you know how to set this tent up?" Inoue asked while holding a rod.

"No, but there is an instruction manual. With that it'll be easy. We can do this in no time." The shorter girl smiled.

"Well we should hurry so we can make some observations before the sun goes down. It's already three o'clock." Senna commented.

"Where's Rangiku?" Rukia said as she pulled the manual from the box.

"She's gone to do her observations with Hinamori and the others." Inoue said before bending down to read as well.

"Hey Rukia, do you think it would be mean if I did something to Renji, even if Shuhei got involved in the crossfire?" Senna asked out of the blue.

"If Shuhei didn't do anything to deserve that, then yeah, it'd probably be a nasty thing to do."

"Oh… well maybe I'll just get him when Shuhei's not around then."

"Senna, do you have feelings for Renji or something? I mean, you're always arguing with him, but maybe that's because you don't know how to engage him in normal, friendly conversation… It could be that you're covering them up."

"Ew! Absolutely not! Renji's nice looking and all compared to some of the other guys at this school, but I don't like him! We just always need to beat each other some way or another. Think of it as a sibling rivalry for lack of a better comparison. Nothing romantic at all."

"You think of him as a sibling, Senna?" Inoue inquired.

"Ugh, let's just drop it! Anything I say will get misconstrued so just know that I don't, have never, and won't ever have romantic feelings for Renji. He's too annoying." When the other two girls looked at each other and then back to her, Senna continued, "Glad we cleared up that whole misunderstanding."

"That's a shame…people who seem the most ill-fitting in the beginning usually make the best couples…" Rukia commented.

"Like Bulma and Vegeta." Inoue added.

"Or Ron and Hermoine." Rukia continued.

"There's Beast and Belle."

"And Esmeralda and Phoebus."

"…Naruto and Sakura."

"That one's not cannon just yet, Inoue. But it has a two part story of build up."

"Right! Well hmm, then, Serena and Darien. That series has been finished for years." The redheaded girl smiled.

"Bon and Rin." Rukia quickly covered her mouth as soon as she said those names.

"What was that? Our little yaoi queen has emerged!" Senna exclaimed, glad the subject was changing and also drawing attention to their small group.

There was no lie to what she had said just a few moments ago. Renji was just like an annoying older brother to her. Always had been, and always would be. The fact that these two were comparing them to other couples made her want to throw up. Honestly, the thought of Renji…

"I'll be back, need to hurl…" the girl said, holding her stomach and leaving Rukia and Inoue to finish their conversation that had somehow gone back to Naruto and Sakura.

Ichigo, having finished his environmental documentations, was now lying in the grassy field he had done most of his illustrations and analyses from.

The wind blew gently across his sprawled out form and knocked the spiky bangs from his face.

He closed his eyes and got so relaxed that he nearly fell asleep, but he realized he'd best stay awake. This was an unfamiliar area and he had always been advised to take caution in situations like these.

After yawning and stretching, he sat up to glance down at his work. He had done some pretty decent illustrations for simple sketches.

When he looked back the way he came, he absolutely couldn't help but wondering where Grimmjow was. Albeit, he didn't see most of the students who had gotten off the second bus. Plus, on the walk to the camp site, he was one of the first ones in line and he didn't even look behind him since his friends had been ahead of him.

Why worry so much about him anyway? He was a big boy. And he also had his own group of friends. Friends who probably wouldn't share their tents with him if he had forgotten to bring his own…

Well, maybe Stark would if he had actually come on the trip. He must have had some pretty good grades to miss out on this assignment. It was being given by the language department because not all the seniors were taking a science course. Some people got an early start in junior high.

Ichigo looked to the sky and wondered if he would be that nice to Grimm. Probably. It was a nice thing to do for anyone who might be stuck out in the cold.

Unless it was Ginjo.

Well, no, even if it was Ginjo. After all, he was only doing this in some form of repaying Masaki for her kindness to him.

The boy threw his fist to the ground and shouted, "What should I do!?" to the sky. It was all he could do right now; scream and vent out his innermost feelings. Ginjo had become quite the parasite in his life and he was sick of not being able to shake him off.

A strong breeze blew against him, flipping the pages in his sketch pad until the few that were sketched on had left the ground and a dandelion was revealed.

Ichigo picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds. Then he recalled something from long ago.

Flashback

"Ichigo, dear, slow down please. You're leaving me, your father, and your sisters."

Ichigo, having heard his name being called, turned around and smiled widely in his mother's direction.

She pushed a stroller that held both Yuzu and Karin in it as she and Ishiin followed him through the grassy prairie.

Once she caught up to him, Masaki bent down and hugged the small boy tightly, causing him to blush.

"Mommy loves you so much, darling."

"I love you too, mommy."

Ishiin pulled out a blanket and sprawled it on the ground to let the girls crawl around as freely as they wanted.

"Masaki, what do you think of having one son and two daughters?" he asked as he took a seat.

Masaki watched as Ichigo tumbled down a hill playfully and smiled, "I don't mind at all. They're my little angels. Just having children is something not everyone is able to do. So I appreciate the first one, and then the second bundle we were sent." She said before sitting down and using both her hands to allow Yuzu and Karin to use them as support to stand up.

"I'm glad I could make you happy then. Even if I wanted two sons and one daughter…"

"Well, Karin's made of pretty tough stuff so I think she'll be more than you can handle, dear."

"Ichigo's coming."

"Oh? And what do you have there, honey?"

"A dandelion! We learned in science class they're also called taxaracums!" the boy grinned.

"Taraxacums…" Ishiin corrected.

"Really now!?" Masaki said, "And do you know what you can do with those?"

"I can make a wish on it! I want you to do it though!"

Masaki's eyes lit up in surprise at her son's selflessness, "Hm, well, let's see. Since you were so kind to me, then I'll return the favor to you tenfold." She took the dandelion gracefully, "I wish for the everlasting happiness of the Kurosaki family. May nothing sway us from the light and wondrousness of this beautiful world." And with that, she blew all the tiny stems into the flowing wind.

"That was a good wish mommy!"

"Promise me this, Ichigo."

"Yeah?"

"I'd like you to promise me you'll be happy in everything that you do. Live a life of honest actions and expect the best, always."

"Mmhmm! I promise!"

"Dear, don't you think that's a little silly? I'm sure he won't remember this when he's grown up." Ishiin said.

"No, he will. I trust that he will. And he'll pass it on to his sisters, his friends, his lover, and most importantly, you Mr. Nonbeliever." The woman smiled lovingly.

"Your optimism is what makes me love you so much, Masaki."

Ishiin leaned over and planted a kiss on his wife's cheek.

Ichigo smiled and made a secret promise to himself to never let his mother's wish die.

End Flashback

Tears fell down Ichigo's face as he recalled that moment but he wiped them away, afraid someone might catch him crying for seemingly no reason.

But onto that memory. How could he ever have forgotten something like that? His mother loved him unconditionally with all of her heart. She would never judge him for having been with Grimmjow.

And if she were alive now, she'd probably want him to stay with him…or be with him again. After all, even his father liked Grimmjow.

Inoue had said it clear as day. Grimmjow made him happy. He never thought that much into his behavior when the cerulean haired man was around.

But Ginjo had to ruin everything.

"Since you were so kind to me, then I'll return the favor to you tenfold."

His mother's words rang in his ear like an enormous, golden bell.

Could that be what she had told Ginjo? Because now that he couldn't make up to her what she did for him, he was forcing upon him.

"Ginjo, you poor fool… You honestly do mean well, don't you?"

Ichigo sighed.

No way he could hate Ginjo for simply acting the way his mother would have… Or…having the same mentality as she did.

"But no matter the case, I was happy with Grimmjow. And I've already broken my promise to him…"

There was no way what was going on now brought anyone happiness. Probably not even Ginjo.

With some form of newfound determination, Ichigo collected his materials and headed back to camp.

He was not yet ready to be with Grimmjow again. Not until he could free himself of Ginjo's misguided kindness. But now he was even more determined to be happy once again.

With Grimmjow that is.

Despite all of this, there was one more promise that he had yet to recall…

For those of you following my other stories, I certainly haven't forgotten them. This one is just getting too interesting to leave alone.

Just a heads up, you probably don't want to miss the next chapter... It's titled "Returning a Favor" heehee