Shining Brighter

Winter vacation came to an end, to many students' dismay, and waiting for them on their return to school was the intimidating entrance exams. Everyone had studied all the things they thought they needed to know for their corresponding tests, and took them when the time came.

That was near a week ago.

It is now a Sunday evening, in late January.

Rukia stood over the oven in her kitchen, with Inoue right next to her, as they waited for the celebratory cupcakes to finish baking.

"I hope I did well…" Inoue said with some concern in her voice.

"Inoue, you probably did better than last time. Try not to worry too much." Rukia said consolingly.

"That's easy for someone who scored in the top five to say."

Both Inoue and Rukia turned when Senna came into the kitchen from the living room.

"Senna, I think we all did fine. Besides, it doesn't matter what we scored, just so long as we did our best." Rukia responded.

"Yeah yeah… I'm pretty confident I got in at least the top twenty. Inoue, you probably did better than me so stop worrying so much."

"We'll find out tomorrow…" the unusually nervous Inoue said.

When the oven started beeping, Rukia bent down and opened it, "The cupcakes are done. Let's put some icing an decorations on them. I know that'll cheer you up, Inoue." she said with a smile.

"I wanna help too." Senna said.

…

As best he could, Ichigo tried to ignore the fretting Renji.

Up in Rukia's room, the two of them, along with Ishida and Chad, were waiting for the girls to finish making the cupcakes. He wished they'd get back already, though. Maybe Renji would stuff his mouth with them and give everyone a break…

In the back of his mind though, Ichigo was very appreciative of Renji's having been there for him that day in the cold. It was because of him and Shuhei that he was able to calm down a bit.

"I can't believe this… If I didn't' do okay on the exams, and if my skills as a soccer player aren't adequate, I'll end up poor for the rest of my life…" the redhead lamented.

"Abarai, it'll be okay. Though near impossible to find a decent career in today's economy without a college degree, I'm sure you'll laze your way into a good job just as you've lazed your way through high school." Ishida reassured, with a slight sarcasm accompanying his statement.

"You got nothing to worry about, so it's easy for you to say things like 'it'll be okay'!" Renji retorted.

Ichigo stood up from his seat on Rukia's floor, took Renji by the arm, led him out onto the balcony, and then closed the doors to make sure they had some privacy.

"Ichigo… What's wrong?"

"Look at you. Fretting like crazy but still asking me what's wrong."

"You know I care about you."

"Renji, you were there for me, and I wanna be here for you now."

"Ichigo-"

"I know you're going to score high. So calm down before you stress yourself out too much."

Renji walked over to the railing of the balcony and leaned heavily on it. He didn't - no, he couldn't - look at Ichigo while he asked this, "I'd been meaning to ask you when you got back… Did Kugo make you sleep with him during your vacation?"

Ichigo put his hands in his pockets and smiled, "What are you asking such a thing for?"

"Because I want to keep you safe. And if someone is forcing you to do something you don't want to do, then I just-"

"Renji, I'm… I'm okay… I promise."

"Are you ever gonna tell the others about him? And… are you ever gonna tell Jaegerjaques? Even if I don't like him that much, I know you love the guy and I know he can keep you safe and happy. He deserves to know about this. Don't leave him in the dark. It's unfair y'know."

"I…" Ichigo didn't know how to respond.

Renji was absolutely right. Leaving Grimmjow and not letting him know the real reason why was unfair. But if he did tell Grimmjow, that temper of his was sure to result in disaster. Who would that help? Absolutely no one. It would only make the situation worse that what it had already grown to be.

The tattooed redhead walked over to Ichigo and put a firm hand on his shoulder, "You're worried about that infamous temper of his, aren't you? Look, if I kept myself in control after finding out, I think he would too."

"... Ren… ji…"

It was easy for him to say that because he didn't know about what Grimmjow did the evening he walked in on Ginjo kissing him. "But he does have a point…" the orange-head thought solemnly.

"Tell him, Ichigo. He might even be able to help you."

"But-"

"Trust me. If he loves you, he'll keep himself in line."

For just a moment as he stared into Renji's dark brown eyes, Ichigo allowed himself to believe in him and his ignorant wisdom.

…

When Senna entered Rukia's room with a tray of cupcakes, she nearly dropped them when she saw Ichigo and Renji hugging out on the balcony.

"What the-"

"Senna, what's wrong?" Rukia asked as she entered her room with another tray, followed by Inoue.

"Th-that jerk! He really does think he's a better friend than me!" the orange-eyed girl said, gripping the metallic tray and gritting her teeth.

"Senna-chan…" Inoue mumbled.

When Renji and Ichigo came back into the room, Senna watched through squinted eyes as Renji casually took two cupcakes from her tray and sat down with them.

"Hey, Rukia, tell Renji he's going to do fine on the exam." Ichigo said.

"I don't know what he's so scared for. You know you've always pulled through in a pinch somehow, Renji." The raven-haired girl commented.

"You're right. You know, Ichigo made me feel a bit more confident… If he believes in me, and if you do too, then I'm going to leave it all to luck."

Rukia smiled at Renji's confidence, then turned to the most confident person in the room, "Ishida, how do you think you did?"

"I'm sure I'm somewhere in the top three. I wouldn't be surprised if I scored in the number one spot."

"You're so lucky you're smart, Ishida!" Inoue said, and then glumly put her tray of cupcakes down on Rukia's desk.

"Chin up, Inoue!" Senna said, "I'm sure you did fine too!"

"Th- thank you, Senna-chan."

Ichigo took a cupcake and sat down on Rukia's over-sized bed. Why she had such a spacious bed made sense to anyone who knew her and who also happened to know about her ginormous collection of stuffed animals. Right now they were in the closet, just so everyone would have somewhere to sit.

As he stared at the blue icing on the cupcake, he wondered about Grimmjow.

Since they got back from winter break, he hadn't really spoken to him much. Vivienne had said he needed time to recuperate, and that's what he intended to allow Grimmjow to get. He didn't feel it was fair for him to force himself back into his life just because he had come home… along with his mother.

It was quite a surprise that she had listened to him and decided to stay in Karakura.

"But I do wonder how he's going to do on the exam… I didn't know he was in AP classes… He hasn't told me anything, has he?" After a moment of wondering what else had been kept from him, Ichigo sighed, "I guess I've kept some important things from him too…"

If Grimmjow was in an AP class, and if he was doing well in it, then he allowed himself to believe the man would at least score in the top thirty.

Thinking of what he had told Vivienne in the hospital before he left, the boy felt pretty bad. He said he would help Grimmjow catch up in his classes since she planned to take him on break early, but had yet to make the effort to do that. "I wonder what she thinks of me now…"

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of violet eyes watched him closely from across the room.

Rukia knew that at some point, she would have to talk to Ichigo about what she had recently learned.

Monday morning. Twenty minutes before classes begin.

As quickly as he could, Ichigo dashed out the front door of his family clinic. He'd overslept this morning since Rukia's get together had carried on until at least twelve o'clock. He remembered it was at least that late because that was when Renji left and then came back with Shuhei.

"I hope I get to see the see the scores before class starts!" he thought as he ran.

When he got to school, with about ten minutes to spare, he sped past the front office and went straight up the stairs.

Unsurprisingly, there was a large crowd standing around the scoreboard. Even on his tiptoes, he couldn't see much.

"Ichigo!"

Said boy turned when he heard his name, only to see Senna running up to him.

"Hey Senna. Did you see the scores?" he asked.

"Nope!"

"We did, though." Rukia said as she and Ishida walked up to them. Ishida noticeably looked as though someone had kicked his puppy.

"H- How'd you guys do? And what about Renji and Grimmjow?"

Rukia turned to Ishida, who clearly wasn't going to say anything, and then turned back to Ichigo, "Well, Renji-"

"Let him see for himself!" Senna scolded, and then forced Ichigo down on all fours.

"What are you-"

"C'mon. We'll get you to the front of this crowd!" The girl grinned.

Through the bustling pairs of legs, Senna squeezed herself through and held Ichigo's hand to drag him along with her to the front. When they came out, they both stood up and dusted themselves off.

"Kurosaki-kuuun!" Inoue called.

Ichigo turned and saw Inoue being squished between some other girls. When he made to help her, she was forced backwards through the crowd in Rukia and Ishida's direction.

"Inoue!"

"I'm fine! Check- check the board!" the girl said with a smile, and then pointed at the bulletin board as she disappeared.

"Oh God!" Senna shouted.

Ichigo turned, "What?!"

"See for yourself!" the girl said, and then stuck her finger on the fifteenth spot.

Next to it, her name was printed.

Ichigo quickly turned, "Senna, that's great! You're in the top sixteen of our class!"

"Well, it's not the top ten, but I'll take it. And my parents will too. Check out everyone else's spots!" She said with a smile as she allowed herself to disappear into the crowd like she was a sacrifice.

Doing just that, Ichigo decided he would start from the lower fifties. If he scored badly, hopefully it wasn't any worse than that.

Up and up his eyes climbed until they landed on the twenty-eigth spot. Keigo must've been glad to know he'd claimed that spot.

With a smile, he continued upwards. To his pleasant surprise, Renji was number twenty-five on the list. "W- way to go, Renji! And he was flipping out last night…" Last time, he hadn't even scored in the top forty. This was a personal best for him.

Next up, in the twenty-second spot was Honsho. Then Chad in the nineteenth spot. Shuhei was next on number eighteen, Mizuiro was just above him in the seventeenth spot, and then Senna was sixteenth on the list. Ichigo felt an alarm go off in his head. His name, nor Grimmjow's, had appeared just yet. Hopefully Grimmjow was somewhere in the ball park with everyone else.

As he continued up, he saw that he had come in fifteenth place, just above Senna.

"Nice!" he shouted ecstatically.

Other people around him looked at him like he was a maniac for a second, and he laughed it off as best he could. But he was in the top fifteen! That was amazing! He'd missed it when he saw Senna's score because she was so happy about being number sixteen that he looked away from the board.

Next up was Tatsuki, who was thirteenth on the list. Then in the twelfth spot was Inoue.

"Everyone's doing so good. Come on, Grimmjow!"

His brown eyes continued up to the ninth spot where Stark's name was. Then in sixth was Halibel. He kept going to the fifth spot and smiled once again. Rukia had come in the top five again.

"I bet Ishida is number one… But what about Grimmjow…?" he thought.

His brown eyes couldn't have gotten wider when he saw Ishida's name in second place, and Grimmjow's name sitting in the number one spot on the list. Wiping his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly, Ichigo had to take a step back to deal with the shock.

"I… I can't believe he's number one…!"

No wonder Ishida looked so upset!

Grimmjow Jaegerjaques! Number one at Karakura High with a perfect score!

It had to be a dream. It just had to be!

Not only had Renji done well, but Grimmjow and everyone else had too.

As best he could, Ichigo tried to keep himself from crying at his excitement and his relief. Something was welling up inside of him, and it was mostly because of Grimmjow.

Even more pleasantly, not even Ulquiorra, who had come in fourth, or Szayel-Apporro, who was in third, was able to beat him.

"Way to prove yourself to the non believers, Grimm. Even I doubted you for a second there…"

Just as Senna had, the boy allowed himself to be absorbed by the crowd of eager students. Hopefully, they too would see Grimmjow's ability to defy the odds and he'd show them he was more than just a meathead.

When he fell out of the crowd, he was surprised when he didn't hit the floor. Instead, he was caught and held in Renji strong, tattooed arms.

"Renji-"

"Did you see it, Ichigo?!" the redhead asked excitedly.

"Yeah! You did great, Renji!"

"Party at my place tonight! YEAAYUUH!"

Senna folded her arms, "You mean at Urahara's shop?"

"Sh- shut up!"

Ichigo got Renji to let him go, and then stood up. Everyone else in the group, apart from Ishida, stood around talking animatedly about their scores. Inoue turned and looked at Ichigo with a beautiful smile, then walked over to him.

"I knew he was smart!" she chirped.

"It's about time he showed it!" The orange-haired boy replied. A tugging at his sleeve made him turn, "Rukia? What is it…?"

"Ichigo… I need to… well, never mind… For now…"

"You sure-"

"WHOA! Jaegerjaques got the number one spot!" everyone heard someone call out.

"He must've cheated…" another person said dubiously.

"You can't cheat on these tests, baka!"

"I don't think he has what it takes to get a perfect."

"Well well! What is all this commotion in my hallway?" Miss Misato asked as she came down the hallway. "Class starts in two minutes. You can all check your scores later."

Ignoring her, the students who were debating continued, "He totally had to cheat!"

"Give it a rest already…"

"No! Cheaters don't deserve-"

"I SAID CLASS STARTS IN TWO MINUTES!" Miss Misato yelled again, effectively clearing the hallway. "That's what I thought." She smiled.

Inside the classroom, Ichigo just couldn't hold in his excitement. He was tempted to tell Grimmjow everything now. Tempted, but not convinced.

"Cheer up, Ishida!" Renji said, with a slight mocking in his tone.

"What's wrong, Ishida-kun?" Inoue asked innocently after flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"He's just mad that his record was broken. By Jaegerjaques!" the tattooed man said.

"I could understand if Kuchiki-san had bested me, but I can't fathom how Jaegerjaques could have possibly… Unless… he cheat-"

"Ishida-kun!" Inoue shouted seriously, silencing the classroom, "Jaegerjaques isn't that kind of person and you know it! Everyone in our group knows that he works hard for the things that he wants now thanks to his having been with Kurosaki-kun! "

"H… having been?" the orange-headed boy thought curiously.

As she stood over Ishida's desk, with all eyes on her, Inoue did not falter. She stood firm with her conviction. Her determination glimmered in her bright gray eyes.

The room remained silent until Senna decided to speak, "Anyone who thinks someone could have cheated on that test is an idiot. They took our phones and made us wear short sleeves to make sure there weren't any answers on them. They took so many precautions to keep us from cheating, and had monitors watching us the whole time!"

Ishida gave in and sighed, "You're right… You're both right…"

"You know she is!" Miss Misato interrupted, "Any merit the student who scored in the number one spot got was earned through effort. We watched you kids and practically knew how many breaths you took while testing."

Ichigo couldn't take the feelings welling up in his lower gut. Grimmjow had out-shined everyone and his friends were defending him about it…? How amazing!

It was obvious he hadn't cheated! Sure he was crazy, but he wasn't stupid. If he'd been caught cheating, his test would have been voided. He would've had no real chance at a future then.

Miss Misato pulled out a few packets and walked to the center of the classroom, "If you'd all take your seats and calm down, we can begin today's lesson."

While staring out the window at the rising sun, Ichigo couldn't help but smile. "Way to show everyone just how bright you are, Grimmjow."

The next few chapters... You all are gonna love 'em :)

Please review!