Ichigo gave the loudest yawn he had ever given as he stretched his arms, sitting up in his bed. He blinked a couple of times to get those morning tears out before deciding to get out of bed. As he did, his mind fully kicked into gear and memories of the other night played in his head. Ichigo knew who he was. And last night was definitely not something that would've happened to him if he could've avoided it.

This wasn't to say it had been unpleasant despite being awkward, it was just something he wouldn't do. And as he thought about it, he gave a grunt of frustration as he ran a rough hand through his hair in a frustrated motion. Thinking early in the morning was never his strong suit, so he decided to save the thought for later. Right now, breakfast was the most important thing.

Oh how he hated his own pathetic cooking…

---

"You know, come to think of it, there's not a sense of changing seasons here is there?" Tsukune asked Ichigo. He had asked this because as he looked outside, he still saw the same cloudy sky that he had seen ever since he got here.

"No… not really." Ichigo replied in a dry tone. That was another thing he did not like about this school, the unchanging weather. He wanted to see a blue sky, clear and free of clouds. But it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. Not only that, but they were working hard to meet the deadline for the newspaper.

"Tsukune-kun…"

"Yes Mizore?" Tsukune said when he felt that familiar cold touch on his shoulder. It belonged to Mizore's who was currently sitting in a desk to the right of him.

"You should be paying attention to your work… there are only two more days until the paper is printed." Mizore reminded him gently while somehow giving him a stern look.

"Oh, yea, that's true Mizore." Then he turned to his left to look at Ichigo, "You better get to work also Ichigo!"

"Yea." Had been Ichigo's automatic reply, but his eyes were focused on something else. He noticed how Mizore hadn't let go of Tsukune's shoulder throughout the conversation. It displayed a sign affection not really shared by people who were merely friends. But Ichigo's musings were cut off when he heard Moka call out his name.

"Ichigooo! I know it's a lot of work to do, but you should really start on your share of the work!" Moka pouted when she noticed that Ichigo had barely done any work. Sitting across from Ichigo, she noticed he been staring at Mizore and Tsukune's interaction. She would've given it more thought had she not been so busy.

"Ah, sorry. I guess I was just a bit distracted." Ichigo replied before taking a pile of papers handed him to him by Moka. "I'll get to work."

The article Ichigo had to work on dealt with yesterday's kidnapping incident. When he had defeated the Medusa, the curse had lifted and the girls had been turned back to normal. This oddly enough made him wonder if he would ever fight someone truly strong, but a gentle reminder of his fight with Kenpachi dissuaded him.

He sighed as he tapped the eraser on his pencil against the desk. He was not meant to be a writer. As he looked on at the paper in front of him, his eyes couldn't help but wander. He looked up at Moka, and noticed how her eyebrows seemed to furrow in thought. She really was trying hard on this paper, Ichigo thought. But then his eyes shifted to the right and he caught Kurumu peaking at him from the corner of her eye. She hurriedly rushed back to work, pretending that nothing happened. But the blush on her cheeks said it all.

Much to his surprise, he felt himself turn away also. It seems he was more embarrassed than he had previously thought. That was a given since he had acted so… strangely. "What's wrong Ichigo?" Yukari quipped up, noticing his troubled look.

"Nothing Yukari." Ichigo replied. And then his mood went from confused to annoyed as hell when Gin decided to speak up.

"Stop being a baby Ichigo! That goes for all of you!" Ichigo berated. "The incident with the art teacher that's gonna be all over the front page was two days ago, Thursday! Ain't no one gonna call us a newspaper if there ain't reporting immediately on her!"

Gin sighed and grabbed the warm cup of coffee from his desk and took a sip from it. "I'll listen to your sob stories after you make the deadline." He said pleasantly.

This ended up getting on Moka's nerves. Standing up, she yelled at Gin. "Then would you please help us out instead of relaxing over there drinking coffee!"

While this was going on, the group was unaware they were being spied upon. Especially Kurumu, who was the main object of the perpetrator's attention. The figure took pictures of Kurumu as she stared at a certain orange-haired boy, who was distracted by the chaos around him. The figure momentarily pulled his eye away from the viewfinder of his camera and frowned at this. But soon the frown turned a ravenous smile as he spoke, "Just you wait. Soon I'll be holding you in my arms!"

---

"Is everyone working hard? I brought snacks!" Nekonome said as she peeked her head inside the room. But when no one replied, she decided to enter. Looking around, she noticed the entire group busy cutting, pasting, writing, erasing, and doing all the things necessary to run a newspaper.

"Nekonome-sensei." Gin greeted, momentarily averting his gaze from the comics he was reading.

"Well, is the work continuing?" She said as she looked at the hardworking group in front of her. "It doesn't even look like I need to ask, does it?"

Moka took this as a chance to take a break, so she replied, "There are lots of cuts and pages, it's a lot of work."

Nekonome's ears wiggled as she lifted a bag with the snacks she brought. "Well then, come on and eat the snacks and cheer up!" She said happily.

Yukari grabbed one of the snacks… and almost threw up. Tsukune who had noticed Yukari's reaction decided to get up and find out what the snacks were. He opened the bag before his face contorted into one of disgust and horror. "Sensie! These are raw fish!" He exclaimed, holding one up so that everyone could see.

"It's delicious that way!" Nekonome replied. Then she seemed to remember something and pulled out a card from her coat pocket. Walking over to Kurumu, she handed it to her. "Oh yea Kurumu-chan. This letter was dropped off in front of the classroom."

"Letter?" She asked as she looked at the letter. 'Love letter?' She thought curiously before reading the name. 'Nagare? Who's this and why now?'

With curiosity, she opened the letter only to discover an array of indecent pictures of herself inside. Shocked beyond belief, she took a quick peak over her shoulders to make sure no one was looking. Thankfully, no one had noticed her as she quickly stuffed the pictures back inside. But in doing so, she discovered a letter that was still inside the envelope. Pulling it out, she read it.

"If you don't want these pictures to become public, come alone to the 'Monster Tree' in the main schoolyard. Nagare." After reading the words, Kurumu's face turned red from embarrassment as she hurriedly hid the envelope in a box designated for use by the newspaper club.

'Kya! What's going on! Is this really a blackmail letter?' She thought as her mind scrambled, desperate to try and find an answer.

This had gotten both Ichigo and Tsukune's attention as they turned their attention away from the fighting Gin and Moka to a frantic Kurumu. "What's wrong Kurumu-san?" Tsukune was the first to speak up.

"AHAHAHAHAH!" Kurumu laughed nervously as she quickly got out of her desk, making way towards the door. "I kinda just remembered I have to do something so I'll be taking off, ok!?"

"Wait Kurumu!" Ichigo called out, stopping the Succubus in her tracks. "The deadline is almost here. We need everyone we can get."

Ichigo looked at Kurumu's face, and noticed that she held a hurt expression. It was as if she was being pulled apart by a decision that Ichigo was not aware she had to take. Oddly, that's exactly what it was, much to Ichigo's imperceptive mind. "Ah, well, maybe if you hadn't been daydreaming we could've been finished by now."

As soon as those words had escaped her lips, she wished she could've taken them back. Ichigo's eyes had widened as he looked on in shock. He took a step back, almost as if it had been a physical blow that he had received. The verbal jab left the boy stunned and Kurumu, despite her dismal mood at saying such words to the man she loved, took this opportunity to leave before she was stopped by anyone else.

"Man, what a bitchy thing to say." Tsukune said as he shook his head in wake of Kurumu's retreating form. Then he looked at Ichigo, who seemed to be frozen at the moment. Worried, Tsukune shook him a little by the shoulders. "Ichigo?"

---

Kurumu walked to the meeting place, her heart filled with grief. With each step she took, it felt like another knife was being stabbed into her heart. How could she have said that? Ichigo hadn't deserved those words! But she had been nervous and frightened by the letter. She had needed to get out of there as quickly as possible… but still…

"Hey, I've been waiting for you." A voice echoed, forcing Kurumu out of her thoughts as she realized that she had arrived. She looked around to find the source of the voice, then she looked up the tree and noticed a boy sitting on one of the dead branches. A camera hung around his neck by a strap. His feet dangled as he gave Kurumu a welcoming smile.

Immediately upon spotting him, her face turned livid with anger. The blush on her cheeks was no longer joy for the one she loved, but a wrath for the person that currently held her gaze. "Who are you?" She demanded, "What do you want, calling me out with those dirty pictures of…"

Suddenly, she became aware that she had not brought them with her. Soon, the color drained from her face as she realized that she had left them in the newspaper box. As she wondered what to do next, the person named Nagare jumped down from the branch and landed in front of her. "I took really cute pictures of you right?" He spoke, his eyes hidden behind his mess of hair as he took a step towards Kurumu. "I really liked them!"

Kurumu took a step back as she noticed one thing: 'Ugh… what's with this guy? He's all slimy with sweat or something, it's a little scary…'

He took one last step forward before he lifted up his head. His hair parted to reveal one closed eye and a warm smile. "I'm Kanou Nagare. Don't you remember?" He asked in a pleasant manner.

Before she could reply, he went into a long winded explanation on how they met after school and he had asked to take a picture of her and that she had agreed to go out with him if he took a pretty picture of her. At the end of his speech, Kurumu was still drawing a blank. 'I don't remember at all… I guess I talked with a lot of guys in order to compete with Moka before I met Ichigo.'

"I've been waiting all this time ever since then." He spoke as the slimey sweat began pouring out of his skin in large quantities. "Go on a date with me now just like you promised Kurumu-chan… unless you want 'those pictures' to be shown to the whole school?"

---

"Kurumu-san isn't coming back yet." Tsukune idly said as he looked at the clock.

"We have no use for people who run away like that." Yukari said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Tsukune merely sweatdropped at Yukari's tone. For an eleven year-old, she could be pretty harsh. But after that thought died off, the room became eerily silent. Moments passed on and no one seemed to want to speak up. It was Moka who broke the silence as she said, "You know, I wonder what Kurumu-chan thinks of the newspaper club?"

This piqued everyone's interest as they listened to what Moka was saying. "Kurumu-chan is here because she likes Ichigo, right? And she totally hated me from the beginning. The truth is that maybe she doesn't think of us as friends. Because going off like that at such a busy time for everyone is really weird!"

As the words sunk in, no one said a word. No one wanted to believe it, but nobody could refute the possibility. While this was going on, Ichigo had barely been paying attention. He was still a little shocked from what Kurumu had said earlier. Sure he had gotten distracted a bit, but it wasn't like he hadn't done any work. His thoughts were interrupted when Tsukune spoke up.

"What are you talking about! You've always been getting along well right? Look, I'm sure it's just Kurumu-san had something important to do today so that's all it is, right?" Despite trying to be cheerful about it, even Tsukune was wondering what had been wrong with Kurumu. After snapping Ichigo out of his reverie, Ichigo had simply gone to his desk and started working. Tsukune had wanted to ask what was wrong, but he had gotten sidetracked when Moka and Mizore had come up to ask him where Kurumu was going.

Tsukune continued smiling, despite the sad looks everyone else held. He still had faith in Kurumu, even if it was wavering slightly. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Ichigo stood up from his desk and started heading out. "Wait, what are you doing Ichigo?" Moka asked as she got up from her desk also.

"I'm going to look for Kurumu." He simply stated before heading out the door. Everyone looked at the door, before turning to look at Moka who was simply standing there. But before long, she too left the room.

---

"H-Hey, what is all this?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable being dressed in her gym uniform in front of this guy. "Why do I have to change into gym shorts for a date?"

"It's a pretend photo shoot!" Nagare exclaimed as his slimy hands grasped the camera hanging from his neck. "Oh Kurumu-chan, you look real good in those!" With amazing dexterity that seemed unlikely for a scrawny person like him, he took photos of Kurumu in rapid succession, one after another. He took ten pictures in just three seconds.

Realizing what he was doing, Kurumu got annoyed and even more embarrassed as she tried covering her assets. "This isn't what I meant by a date!" She exclaimed, "Stop acting like a—"

"Oh, are you sure about talking to me like that?" Nagare interrupted her, eyeing her with a sadistic look.

"Uh…"

His visible eye shined with malevolence as he spoke, "I have this special ability of finding out what a girl's secrets are. I know a lot about you Kurumu-chan!"

Then he leaned in closer to Kurumu, who backed away slightly from the look of his repulsive face. "For example, stuff like this and stuff like that…" He whispered the rest to Kurumu as her face continually got redder and redder.

"Hentai!' She exclaimed before setting a good distance between them.

"Maybe I'll just tell ev-er-y-thing to Ichi-kun, hmm?" He slyly said, knowing that he had her cornered.

Panic struck her as she replied in a dejected manner, "Why do you know about Ichigo? Stop… anyone but Ichigo…"

Knowing that she was beaten, he pulled out a maid outfit as he exclaimed, "Then how about we do this cosplay!"

Kurumu looked at the costume before she resigned to her fate and grabbed the dress. As she walked away, her name was called out and grabbed her attention. Turning around, her eyes widened in surprise. "Ichigo!" Then she looked a little to the left and noticed someone else. "Moka?"

"Kurumu." "Kurumu-chan!" Ichigo and Moka called out respectively.

"So, you're Ichi-kun huh?" Nagare spoke, catching said person's attention along with Moka's.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, his voice firm and rigid. In response, he got a smile from Nagare as his body began deforming. Protrusions that looked like thin, round pipes sprouted out from his face, which seemed to be melting. Ichigo got into a battle stance, but since he didn't have Zangetsu with him, he'd have to this the old fashioned way.

"Me? I'm Kurumu's boyfriend! Right Kurumu-chan?" He said as one of his eyes poked out from a stem-like protrusion. The stem with his eye twisted and grew until it was able to see behind him without him having to turn his head.

Kurumu stood still, unsure of what to do. On one hand, she knew Ichigo could kick this guy's ass… but at the same time, what if he told Ichigo all the stuff he said to her and showed him the pictures? Would Ichigo think less of her? Could she potentially lose him as a love interest, maybe even altogether?

"Well?" Nagare asked as his eye wiggled around in the socket of the stem. Kurumu swallowed the lump in her throat, frightened at the words she was about to utter.

But she didn't have to. "Bastard! Leaver her alone!" Ichigo yelled out before disappearing. Before anyone knew it Ichigo had Shunpo'd behind the slug-like monster and tried elbowing him in the back of the neck. Sadly, this didn't work since his soft body cushioned the blow to the nerves. Then to Ichigo's surprise, another one of those pipe-like protrusions spontaneously jutted out and hurled gas into his face. With a cough, he staggered back and fell, his entire body numb and weak.

'W-What the hell is this? What's happening to me?' Ichigo thought as he struggled to move a muscle. But with all his might, his limbs would not respond to any command. He lay there, paralyzed and weak.

"Ufufu… it looks like you've gotten a taste of my power. And now, you can't fight anymore!" Came Nagare's slow and distorted voice, which sounded as if he was gargling on his own slime. Slowly, he crawled over to Ichigo before wrapping a tentacle around Ichigo's neck and lifting him up. "Kurumu is mine! We're going to have so much fun with me taking pictures an—"

Suddenly, a powerful aura caused the slug monster to loosen its grip. It dropped Ichigo and turned around and found the aura coming from a pissed off Kurumu. "Don't… touch him!" Came Kurumu's low and dangerous voice. Wings sprouted from her back, ripping through her shirt as her fingers transformed to foot-long claws. Slowly, she lifted up her head and looked into the slug's eyes, shocking and horrifying it at the same time. Kurumu's pupils were gone and all that was left was a faint purple hue. Blue rings pulsed outward from her eye where her pupil should've been and swept across the land. A moment passed before the ground began shaking.

Wailing moans were heard from all around group as trees began screeching and swaying. Then, tree roots sprung from the ground and waved about in frenzy. "What's going on! The tree roots are attacking!" It said as it tried dodging the roots in vain. Before long, it was wrapped up and could not escape.

"I'll never forgive you…" Kurumu hissed menacingly. "I'll never forgive you if you lay a hand on Ichigo!" Power exploded from her, shredding the ground beneath her as even more roots rose to attack the slug monster.

But that was not all it should've been afraid of. The trees themselves now began attacking as they launched themselves at it. Unable to dodge, it took on the attacks full on and was battered mercilessly by the possessed trees. More roots and branches clung onto the slug, closing off its already slim chances for escaping. "My… My body, it won't move!" The voice rasped as the breath was squeezed out of it.

"Take this!" High above, an angry Kurumu dove down with nails extended. In less than a second her nails sliced cleanly across the monster's stomach. A deep, but non-mortal wound. He would live to make use of the lesson learned here.

Both Ichigo and Moka lay sprawled on the ground, stunned. What surprised them even more was that it had all been an illusion. Soon the tree roots disappeared, leaving unscathed ground. The trees themselves had never moved from their original spot. It looked like nothing had happened save for the blood spattered across the ground that belonged to the slug monster.

Kurumu, feeling weak from her actions, crawled over to Ichigo. She sat in front of him with her legs tucked beneath her. Ichigo, who was resting against a tree, waited for her to speak. "I'm sorry." She finally said as she hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry for saying those things to you Ichigo… I… I… I didn't mea—"

She was cut off when a large and warm hand placed itself firmly on her shoulder. She blushed from the touch, but looked up at Ichigo with eyes that held unshed tears. "It's alright. Something must've happened and that's why you left. I get it."

Ichigo's simple statement filled Kurumu's heart with joy and made her smile. However, one other person there was eyeing the two's interaction with a critical eye. Moka, despite being glad that Kurumu was alright, did not like the closeness between Ichigo and Kurumu. Unbeknownst to Ichigo and Kurumu, Moka's Rosario shined a bright red as it spoke to Moka in a calm, but serious voice. "Ichigo is yours, he is our future mate."

Moka nodded as she continued staring at the two, an unknown and powerful emotion brimming inside of her.

---

Soon, they returned to the classroom and where greeted by Yukari, who held the envelope that Kurumu had hidden. "I found this in the box Kurumu!"

"Yea, why didn't tell us you were being targeted?" Tsukune came up and asked.

Ashamed, Kurumu rubbed her arm in a self-comforting motion as she tried to come up with an answer. Instead, Ichigo spoke up for her. "Mah, it's alright. She's back so let's get back to work."

Kurumu looked up at Ichigo, surprised that he had defended her. Her cheeks stained a pink hue as a smile played across her face. And then she noticed his hand simply hanging there at his side. Slowly, her right hand moved, inching closer to Ichigo's hand. But just as they were about to touch Ichigo had moved to sit down at his desk. 'Dammit! I missed my chance.' She thought in annoyance before she smiled again. 'There will be other chances.'

Moka had noticed Kurumu's little action and frowned. She had wanted to slap her hand away, but then something occurred to her. What was going on? Why was she so upset? She looked down at her Rosario and noticed its dull red centerpiece. She gasped when it took on the shape of a slitted eye and looked at her. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone. She got the feeling she would need to talk to her other self soon.

Minutes passed by and the group began chattering away like normal as they worked on their newspaper. Smiles and laughs were exchanged as they helped one another. As the hours passed, the group grew weary from the work. The energy of the group slowly drizzled to a stop as one by one, heads lay themselves against the desks, fast asleep. Soon, all that was heard was silence.

They were all unaware of the events that would soon unfold.

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Late chapter, I know. College and whatnot. I actually had writer's block until two days ago when a MARVELOUS idea occurred to me. Let's hope if I'm able to unravel it in a well thought out way.