Hello guys, this is the official return of Life And Times Of Kishiko Ishikawa! Boy, when I said in the last chapter I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger I really did, didn't I? A two-and-a-half year cliffhanger! Well, at the time of my last chapter I was only 14 years old and now I'm 17! So let's hope my writing style's matured, eh? Anyway, please give a warm welcome to the return of LATOKI (this is my new short version for what is a very long series title)

Chapter 12 - Confessions Part Deux.

In the previous chapter…

"Hey, Kishiko-san!" I spun round to find Renji's head poking through the opposite door. I smiled,

"Hey, I was looking for you." I smiled and walked towards him,

"Cool, 'cause I wanted to talk to you about something." I raised an eyebrow,

"About what?" He gestured to the table in the middle of the room and I sat down on one of the pillows, and he sat next to me.

The next 3 minutes... were something I never expected to happen... ever.

I turned round and smiled gently at Renji, who returned a much more nervous-looking, very forced, cheesy grin as he slowly and carefully closed the door behind him. I was suspicious, but non-the-less, I turned back and buried my hands in my lap as Renji sat down on the pillow next to the one I was sat on. I looked around,

"So…" I laughed awkwardly. Usually, things with Renji were all fun and messing about, but this time, something in the air felt uneasy. I went to make eye contact with him, but the moment my eyes met his he swiftly turned his head and decided his shoulder was much more entertaining to observe. I got sick of the silence almost instantly, and slapped my hand onto his shoulder he was so intently staring at, and the shock of the sudden movement knocked his head in my direction, like he'd been slapped in the face instead,

"What do you want to talk to me about, Renji? Why the whole awkwardness and finding your shoulder oh-so-intersting? Renji… Renji, you were the one who wanted to talk to me, so why the hell aren't you saying a word? For fuck's sake, REN-" the last syllable of his name was replaced with muffled murmurs of surprise when Renji grasped my upper arms and threw his body into mine, forcing our lips to connect.

The force of him throwing me forwards pushed pushed Renji backwards and I heard his back slam against the cool wood of the floor. My attempts to pull away were swiftly punished as Renji moved his hands from tightly gripping my arms to pushing on the back of my head, taking my lips even closer to his. I had to admit, he was good at kissing… very passionately. But after a lot of screaming into his mouth and writhing about, I managed to break free from his confines, and gave him a hard slap across the face. I stood up in anger and shock, and watched Renji slowly sit up straight, nursing his quickly reddening cheek. My own cheeks were brushed with red, in anger and embarrassment,

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT, RENJI?!" I screamed. I didn't care if Urahara or Ichigo could hear. I was pissed. Seriously pissed. Renji stood up,

"I…I'm sorry Kishiko… I didn't know which way to say it… so… I just thought I'd act…"

"Say WHAT?!"

"THAT I LOVE YOU!" That stopped my rant right there. Was he serious? Had he said this just to shut me up? I stared at him in shock,

"You….lo…." I couldn't even say it. Just thinking about it had turned my mouth dry and my palms sweaty. Saying it would just…just kill me. He nodded,

"Y…yeah… I do. But I've been trying to hide it, so I've tried to push you closer to Ichigo." I rubbed my temples, trying to make sense of it all. This was all too much to happen to me. Especially after the events that had occurred over the past few days. Before either of us could say any more, Ichigo opened the door, looking slightly panicked,

"Kishiko…are you ok? I heard yelling…" he looked over at Renji, and he clearly noted the huge red hand print that had appeared on his right cheek. Renji looked down, too embarrassed to admit to Ichigo what had happened. I put on a fake smile and walked up to him,

"Of course I'm ok, we were just play fighting and it got a lil' out of hand, Renji was a little too rough with me so I slapped him in self-defence. Isn't that right, Renji?" The sound of his name made his head snap up to face us, puzzled, then quickly changed his expression once he realised I was saving his ass,

"Oh yeah, I hit her a little too hard by accident so she slapped me quite hard across the face. It was just a bit of harmless fun." I nodded up to Ichigo,

"Yup! Now c'mon, you all finished talking?" Ichigo looked away from me and stared at the floor,

"Y…yeah, we are…" the look on his face told me something had gone down that had disturbed or upset him, but I knew he wouldn't tell me, so I didn't bother asking. I gave him a big grin and gripped his hand tight in mine and turned to look back at Renji, who was still gently touching his cheek and wincing. Despite his actions, my anger was beginning to wash away and instead was being replaced with waves of guilt. I quickly mouthed 'I'm sorry' before Ichigo began to leave the room, pulling me along with him.

That kiss… it was so… so passionate. Did he really mean all those things he said? I could feel my face flush a bright hue of red and I replayed what had just occurred in my head. However, my train of thought was abruptly stopped when Ichigo sharply pulled me into an empty room. He looked at me, face stern and serious,

"Kishiko, I don't want you to leave my sight, you hear me?" His voice was… different. Something had obviously happened in that room with Urahara which had put him off-track. I nodded meekly, still feeling numb and my head still reeling from everything that had happened.

"O….ok, I won't." My voice was small and soft, despite trying my hardest to appear normal. Ichigo's face softened, though it still appeared tight under the surface. He pulled me in and hugged me tight,

"Good. I love you Kishiko." I looked up to him and smiled gently,

"I love you too, Ichigo," I hugged him tighter and buried my head in his chest.

Yes…this is the way it's supposed to be. I love Ichigo, not Renji. This is how things should be…..

I can't stop thinking about Renji.