Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach... Sucks, right? If I did Tsukiko would be the main character, MWAHAHA!

I hope this is to everyone's liking. And I'm all for suggestions or for help in my writing. I'm the WORST with grammar and staying in one tense. And I do realize this and I'm sorry if it gets confusing but thats just how my mind works.

ENJOY!

I tapped my fingers irritably against the wood of the desk that I sat behind. I wasn't sure how much I could take of this waiting. While other people around me were getting paired off to go train with each other. One by one the names were called, slowly, and still none of them were mine. I could feel Izuru's eyes watch me as I leaned on the desk, resting my chin in hand. He probably wanted to train with me, and I really didn't care who I got to train with. I couldn't deny that deep down I was longing for Renji's name to be called with mine. It would never happen, to far of a chance. Plus, the teacher should know better than to pair me with the guy that I tend to argue with one hundred percent of the time. Doesn't mean we don't work well together, we sure did raise some hell in the 78th district of Rukongai. Making up schemes to get into place and out of small hiding spots. We've gotten... Well, I've gotten into tough jams that only he has been able to pull me out of. Back them I relied on him to do everything for me, I never once even thought about a strong power that could be inside of myself. Till I met Rukia.

She was the first of us to be able to control a tiny bit of spiritual energy, Renji then roughly got it. And I, some how, managed to get to where Rukia was on that level. I looked up and for the first time Renji looked upset at me, the first time he was ever like that towards. He always talked quieter, was gentle, caring, at least thats how I saw him. As we grew older I started to realize the true narcissistic nature of Renji. He always wanted it to be about him, him, him, him. While I was the one almost dieing everyday! I guess that kind of made me selfish too...

I slammed my head on to the desk and groaned in annoyance. How long has it been? Fifteen minuets and still no Tsukiko Senta.

"Tsukiko-chan?" Izuru's worried voice quickly popped into my head. I rolled my head over to look at him. "If you had a little patience I'm sure he will call your name in no time." He said referring to the teacher down in front. That teacher hated me, and Renji. Probably something about us being poor, orphans that nobody wanted. Pfft, discrimination. I tried to take most of the crap he dished out, making me revert to a shy stage. I got to the point where I barely spoke up in class unless called on. Momo and Izuru both noted that it was strange when I would talk for hours to them and never speak around other people. I usually just blushed and run away with my head hung low.

"I'm not sure how much more I can take," I said with a sigh. Slowly, I began to lifted my head off the desk and shook the light headed feeling from my mind. "I don't know what I did to him, but that teacher will always hate me!"

"He doesn't hate you..."

I shot a glare straight at Izuru before he had a chance to go on. "Now Izuru-kun, you know as well as I do that he hates me! He picks on when I'm sitting hear paying attention, which is a lot more than most of this class. He never calls on me when I actually know the answer. And he will sit for hours until I come up with some answer that is correct to a question that he has never talked about before..." My rant could go no longer as I heard something glorious.

"Tsukiko Senta!" The announcer voice of the teacher called out. "And..." There was a slight pause as he looked for my partner on his piece of paper. Suddenly my heart started to race as I waited for him to call out another name. It seemed to take longer than usual, like he was toying with me. Probably was, I wouldn't doubt that it was the type of person he made himself out to be. Soon a mischievous smile spread across his face and his dark eyes looked up towards me and my eyes went wide. "Renji Abarai." BAM! My head hit my desk again, causing a banging sound to fill the silence in the room. Not what I expected to do.

"Shit." I mumbled to myself and slowly lifted my blue eyes to look around the room. Confused faces locked onto me, trying to figure out why I was so disappointed in training. And it was that at all. I was upset because I was paired...with him. The guy, who was glaring at me at the moment, sent chills over my body. And it pissed me off even more. That guy had so much power over me and he didn't even realize it. Half of my life I had spent relying on him he has always been my rock through the good times. Wherever he would go I would follow. But that wasn't me anymore. I wanted to finally be my own person and break free from the chains of my past, that included Renji. It had been a while since we had really talked. I wasn't even sure if our friendship was still alive.

A soft hand landed on my back and slowly began to pat. "Deep, calming breaths Tsukiko-chan!" With that I couldn't help but smile back up at him. I lifted my head once more from the desk and gave him a real smile.

"Thanks Izuru-kun. But I think that I have to do this one on my own," I said with a quick nod. Izuru returned to the nod and we went on to hear the rest of the list of pairs.

The butterflies were taking over my whole body as the last names were called. I looked over to Renji, who had his eyes fixed on the teacher, waiting to be released. He just wanted to get this over with, he probably won't even want to really train. No wait, I take that back, he WILL want to train. This was Renji I was thinking about, probably going to whine up in the 11th division. Fight, fight, fight!

"You may chose any spot in or around the academy, no leaving school grounds!" The teacher was getting smart, he knew kids would want to skip in this time out of class. "If you are caught without your partner for the next two hours you WILL fail this assignment." I groaned silently this time. Two hours?! How the hell was I expected to last even five minuets with Renji without one of us tearing the others head open? "Begin!" He finally announced.

I stood up from my seat and let out a deep breath that I didn't know that I was holding. "Be braze Tsukiko-chan!" Izuru waved his good-bye and ran off to meet his partner, my roommate, Momo Hinamori. I wished I could have gotten partnered with her, this task wouldn't be as stressful.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" A taunting voice called from behind me as I reached into the halls of the school. I turned to see the red headed man behind me with a smirk wide on his face.

"Only if your ready to get your body sliced open," I returned the smirk as he walked closer to me. I clutched onto the sword that was now hanging at my hip, ready to attack at any moment. Right then, right there.

"Whoa!" He held up his hands defensively. "Can you at least wait till we get outside?" My smirk only grew and I turned to head towards the back entrance of the school, not caring to say anything to Renji at all.

I took a step out onto the green grass and took in a big gulp of fresh air. It felt nice to be outside of the crowded classroom that I was locked away in every single day. "Nice day," I mumbled, mostly to myself, but loud enough for Renji to hear. In case he cared. I continued to walk on, through the forest till I could find a bare spot, wide enough to fight in. A nice breeze flew through the trees, making the leaves rustle together. It has been a long time since I had taken in the warm air around me, the freshness that came with the beauty of the world around me. A bright smile was on my face as I clasped my hands behind my back and felt myself do a little skip. It had been a long time since things had been peaceful. I'm not even sure of when the last time was when I was truly at peace.

I heard chuckle behind me and I quickly turned to see a Renji looked up into the sky, day dreaming about something... Not watching where he was going. So, I stood there, waiting for him to approach me. Before he knew it there I was, blocking his path. He stumbled around me and looked straight at me as if I was the crazy one.

"Next time watch where you are going," I said in a slow voice, like I was talking to some child.

"Next time you should just get out of my way. I could run you over." He sent me a playful glare, just like he was my best friend again. Back in Rukongai.

I laughed, loudly, making sure he knew that I was making fun of him. "Don't underestimate me! Just cause I'm a foot shorter than you means nothing! I can out run you any day!" I challenged him. Every guy loved a good challenge, especially someone like Renji.

"Good thing thats not what we are here to do." His statement brought me back to where I was. Academy lands, not in Rukongai. Teenage years, no longer children. Time flies to fast fro Tsukiko to notice anything anymore.

"Yeah right," I tried to hide the pain in my voice. I wanted to talk, not fight. I wanted to get to know Renji again, be his friend once more. And maybe I could finally understand him again as he changed right before my very eyes. "I guess its time for me to kick your ass!" I jumped right into a fighting stance, one hand clutching the hilt of her sword.

"You're more anxious to fight than I am!" Renji wanted to laugh but just continued to smile, the normal Renji smile. "I'm surprised you want to fight at all. You use to hate any kind of confrontation that we would run into."

"Well," I said and relaxed as Renji started to get prepared to fight, putting down his bag and readying his sword. "If I'm choosing a life of fighting..." My eyes met the ground and I slung the bag off my shoulders onto the ground behind me. "I have to learn someday to fight. And I have to accept it. I'm going to be a Shinigami that protects Soul Soceity, no way around it." I felt my confidence boost up as I grabbed a tight hold of my sword. The look on Renji's face brighten. I knew that he was feeling the same way I was. Rukia had come up with the idea but we both backed it up with our lives. Literally.

I slid my foot back and crouched down ever so slightly and watched as Renji just held his sword out in front of him. Had he learned nothing so far? The next moment he was charging quickly at me with his sword held high above his head. But speed was always on my side, all our lives I have been able to out run him. I took one sharp step towards the right avoiding his swing. "Still to slow," I taunted him. I loved the fact that I could beat any guy at a foot race. The only thing that was my default was that I didn't have the power to back up my speed. And that, Renji knew all to well.

The second that I moved out of the way he swung again, forcing all his power into that swing. This time I had to jump backwards to avoid it, but the force in the wind that it made threw me off balance giving him an opening. He lifted his sword above his head and swing down once more. This time I lifted my own sword to block it. My sword was turned on its side and I had my hand placed against the side closest to me to try and hold him back. Once he realized that he had me pinned in my weak spot he smirked down at me. "Gotcha," He said like he was already the victor.

"Not yet," I muttered back. I refused to give up to the likes of him, not now, not ever. I pushed against my sword shoving him away and he stumbled backwards. When he regained his footing he gave me a bewildered look. He was confused of how in the world little Tsukiko Senta was able to push the giant Renji Abarai away. Well, I maybe small but I pack a good bit of power, especially when I was determined to do something. And I was determined to beat him.

I made the next move, bringing my sword to my side and rushing towards him. He raised his own to block me and it became a stand still. My last move had finally made Renji even more determined to win and I could feel his power out weighing mine. My knees were going to crumble beneath me if I didn't do something. But his strength was finally getting to me. The swords jumped back closer to my own body and no matter how hard I pushed back he was still winning. I took one step back, trying to escape the power of his sword but he countered with his own steps. Little by little we kept moving backwards.

"Just give up Tsukiko, there isn't anything else you can do." He was right. Reality washed over me and I realized that I really had no chance of winning. I admitted to myself that I was weaker than him when it came to strength, I would always be faster. But that was going to get me no where in this fight. In our stand still it was a fight of strength but I just couldn't give up. I had always been the weaker one, in everything. Always being pushed around, shoved in directions that I didn't want to go in, following like I was a lost puppy. I wanted to be something different. I wanted to be strong.

That was the moment when I made a vow to myself that I would train and fight till I become stronger than the guy before me. The guy who had once been my whole world. No more. Tsukiko was her own person from now on. And I would get stronger till I could finally beat him in an actual fight.

I step back once more and found a tree against my back. No where else to go. Time to give up. "Fine," I said monotone. "You win... for now." My eyes met the ground as I felt the pressure release from the swords. I dropped the hand holding my sword to my side and yet I could still feel his sword near my neck. I looked up to Renji with a serious face on. "What?" I almost growled at him.

"I'm just making sure you don't attack me again." He said matter-of-factually like I was suppose to attack him again! After all these years and apparently he didn't trust my words.

My eyes slit into a glare. "I already told you that you won this round. Take a quick break and we can fight again. I'm not gonna go back on my word."

He smirked. Oh, how I hated the infamous Renji smirk. "Do you remember the last time this happened?" My eyes went wide and a wave of nostalgia washed over me.

Back in Rukongai we use to love to play fight. Picking up sticks and waving them around like we were real Shinigami. We thought we were so cool, though the real thought of being a Shinigami seemed miles away. Renji and I would always be the two to face off, ending up with me losing. But there was one flip in fate when I was able to pin him up against a tree. Yes, thats right, I had finally beaten Renji in a fight. To bad it wasn't a true fight. It was a moment that had changed my life for a long time. I was already close enough to Renji to feel his heart beat against my skin.I was staring into his eyes as we both wondered how in the world that fight turned out the way it did. My next move was unexpected, even to myself, and it made me grateful that no one else was around at the time. I leaned forward and placed a quick peck on his lips and I didn't even wait to see his reaction. I dropped my stick, turned, and ran as fast as I could to no where in particular. I was scared that the overwhelming happiness would be clear on my face, and that Renji would get mad and begin to hate me.

When I did return from my little run he acted as if nothing had happened.

I remembered the memory as if I was only yesterday. "Of course I remembered. But it was different, I had beaten you."

"Miracles do happen once in a while."

I laughed, "What? It wasn't a miracle, I won fair and square. You're just mad because, you got beat by a girl." I said the last part in a sing-song voice to taunt him even more.

He grimaced and retaliated. "It was a miracle because it happened ONCE. And what if I let you won." He tried to taunt me back but that was taking it a bit to far.

"You..." My voice dropped, "Would you really have done that?" I looked up at him with my puppy dog eyes, something that has always been able to tear apart a guy like Renji.

"Uh," He leaned his head back, he had no idea what to say to that. So he decided to rely on his actions. He leaned down quickly and forced his lips onto mine. I jumped back against the tree in surprise and he automaticlly backed away. "Uh, sorry." He turned and sheathed his sword.

My breathing was quick and I began to cough from the shock, still being sicked did that to me. "Sorry?" I shook my head in disbelief." Thats all you have to say?" I was mostly still shocked from the kiss itself and how it made fireworks go off in my heart. I was still recovering from the enlightenment of my own lips.

"The last time you did that you didn't say anything about it." His back was still turned to me and he sat down next to his bag.

I paused for a moment to think about that. "Touche." I walked back to where I had earlier place my own bag, a couple feet away from where Renji was sitting. As I sat down I looked straight at Renji who was staring back at me. "So how have you been?"

He just shrugged. "It hasn't been that long you know."

"...Its been about three years since we really talked to each other."

"You've been so in love with Kira that I haven't been able to talk to you."

I froze in confusion. "Wha...what?!" Me? In love with Izuru? No way in hell! He was more like a best friend that I spent most the time with. I never pictured myself being with him for the rest of my life. "I do not love Izuru in that way. We, are, just, friends!" I took a small break in between my words to add emphasize.

"Thats not what I've heard." His voice had no life to it that it was tearing at my ears. He didn't care at all if I had been anyways and it was killing me. He was suppose to be once of my best friends. And at this moment I couldn't stand him. "I heard you had already planned out marrying each other."

"Damnit!" I screamed out. "Who the the hell started that rumor this time?" Everyone at the academy assumed that Izuru and I were going to fall in love and marry each other and have a happily ever after life together. "Is it so hard for us to just be friends?" I sighed and threw my gaze to the ground.

"Well thats good," I looked up in shock, maybe he did care after all. "Marriage would be a giant distraction in Soul Society. You wouldn't be able to fully protect while worrying about the one that you love like that."

My words caught in my mouth. I wanted to say that you can love and still protect. But his words sounded so true. If I was to marry Izuru then how could I be a good Shinigami without being distracted by him. "I...I never thought about it that way."

"Well you should. Don't you wish to one day be a captain or even a vice-captain? Falling in love would ruin that."

"Well for one, I'm NOT marrying Izuru. So drop that nonsense." Renji just shrugged and I continued on, "Being in love has nothing to do with being a damn good Shinigami. How would you know?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "How would you not that what I saying is a lie?"

"Touche." I said with a sigh and kept looking at the ground.

"Kira's a distraction to you, thats all I'm saying. If you drop that relationship now it might be better for you." There was a slight eagerness behind his voice. He was very determined to break me away from Izuru.

"What I do with my life is not up to you. So PLEASE just drop it!" I couldn't stand to talk about other relationships with the man that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with.

"Fine." He looked away from me. "Back to your earlier question I've been fine. This place is definitely different from where we are from."

"Well duh," I sat up better and felt my nerves dieing down. "We were poor orphans, surrounded by other poor people. Now we are surrounded by rich people and nobles. Its quite the experience." I smiled at Renji who glanced at me and gave me a little smile back.

"To bad we don't get any respect around here." Thats the number one thing that Renji wanted, respect.

"Give it time, Renji," My voice was soft now as I tried to make him feel better. "If you take it slowly respect will come to you. It can't happen in the blink of an eye. One day you will have the respect that you want!" My voice was happy and light and it made Renji turn his head back towards me. A full smile on his face.

"One day I will become a captain and show everyone what I can be!" He announced to the empty world around us.

I laughed and leaned backwards in my chuckles. "Thats the spirit. One day you can even rule Soul Society..." I paused and giggled, "That would be a scary time for Soul Society." He laughed at that comment too.

"It could happen, don't you dare doubt me!"

"Not doubting, just worried for the sake of Soul Society."

And the conversation continued on till our two hours were up and we had to return back to our classes. It was a nice, normal conversation. No more fighting and no more arguing. It was the Renji that I missed and loved.

So, I need an idea of what to do for the next character. I already have a few ideas:

1) Go to the real world for the first time to fight hollows, and are saved by Aizen and Gin, blah, blah, you know the story.

2) A random picnic of Tsukiko, Izuru, and Momo, maybe a random character to have more people in the story.

3) An idea from the wonderful people that read my story!

I'll let the people who read this pick!