I restarted training the day after all the weirdness happened. But I never saw Ichigo and every time I asked Urahara where he was he'd say he was out and wouldn't give me an explanation. So for a few days I trained with Urahara and didn't see Ichigo. Then, on a Tuesday I think it was, he started coming back to help train.

"Where have you been?" I asked him when I was taking a break.

"Just—needed to think." He said but didn't elaborate.

In fact he hardly spoke to me after that. Every time I tried to talk to him, he'd walk off to talk to Renji or Urahara or go upstairs and not come back down for hours at a time. It made me wonder—did I offend him somehow? I never said I didn't like the kiss—I'd never admit out loud but I actually did like it—so I couldn't comprehend why he was avoiding me so much. But maybe it's because he felt awkward about it and didn't really want to be around me while he was feeling like that. I didn't know what to think about the way he was acting.

After we were done training for the day, I followed Ichigo upstairs and just waited for him to notice me.

He did but he didn't say a word to me. In fact, he was picking up his bag and getting ready to leave.

"Why've you been avoiding me?" I finally asked.

He slung his bag over his shoulder, glanced at me and walked outside. I scowled and followed him out, grabbing his arm.

"I asked you a question." I snapped at him.

He looked at me. "You want to know why I've been avoiding you."

"I kinda deserve to know considering I didn't do anything to hurt your feelings." I was still scowling.

"I just needed space." He was unusually quiet.

"Enough so that you won't even talk to me—you'll barely even help me train? What did I do to you? Can I at least know if I actually did do something?" I was getting pissed.

He pulled my hand off of his arm. "Tomorrow."

I glared at him but didn't say anything as he walked away. I stomped back inside, went into the training room, found my sleeping pad, laid face first on the pillow and just let out a loud angry scream. I heard the trap door open and someone came barreling down the ladder. I just continued to lay there on the pillow, hiding my face.

"Saru are you okay?" It was Urahara.

"Perfectly fine." I answered, with a thick sarcastic tone.

He sighed. "Can you sit up?"

I grunted. "I don't wanna."

He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up unwillingly. I groaned and looked at him, not even bothering to hide the anguish on my face. It didn't matter—he might as well know. Heck, he might even know what the heck Ichigo's deal is with me.

He looked confused. "You ok?"

"Ichigo won't tell me what I did wrong. He's been avoiding me and he won't tell me why." I said with a frustrated groan at the end.

Urahara snorted. "It's obvious isn't it?"

I looked at him in totally confusion. "What are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes and mumbled something before speaking directly told me. "He told me he kissed you." I turned beet red at that. "And he also told me how you reacted. And you don't understand why he's avoiding you?"

"He told me it was mostly just to get me to shut up."

"That's just an excuse!" Urahara sighed and stood up, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not going to try to make you understand—I'll just see if you can do that yourself." He went up the ladder and I heard the trap door snap shut and the room went pitch black. I sighed and lied down and just decided to think. I didn't know what he meant. So if the reason he's avoiding me is because he kissed me—then why'd he do it in the first place?

I was out of ideas. I couldn't figure out why he would've done it—but it didn't really matter. Maybe I'd find out tomorrow or maybe he'd just tell me he was upset with something and stop avoiding me. But it probably wasn't going to be that easy. It was going to be nowhere near easy.

After that I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I noticed Ichigo was standing there. He had his bag and was in his uniform for school.

"Ah crap." I'd totally forgotten about the existence of school.

"Yes you are going to school today." He said, flatly. "So hurry up and get ready so we're not late."

He went back up the ladder.

I sighed and got ready quickly and when I got upstairs, all I had time to eat was a cereal bar and then I was rushed out the door. Ichigo was already walking and I had to run to catch up to him. When I did reach him, he tensed up and just kept his eyes straight forward.

"Are you going to tell me why you've been avoiding me?" I asked him.

"What's the point?" His voice is suddenly sharp and irritated. "It's not going to change anything."

It was like a slap to the face. It was almost the same thing I told him when he asked me to tell him what's going on. I stopped walking and just stared at him, trying not to show the hurt on my face. He stopped walking and turned, looking absolutely annoyed.

"Are you coming?"

When he didn't answer he came up to me, grabbed my arm and started dragging me. I didn't resist being dragged. I didn't understand what he was doing but at some point I got tired of it and I dug my heels into the sidewalk, making him stop.

"Yesterday you said you'd tell me." I jerked my arm out of his grip and folded my arms over my chest. "I'm not going to school until you tell me."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't want to have to carry you there."

"Tell me."

He suddenly just was giving me an icy glare which made me shudder. "Later."

I started walking faster than he was, feeling agitated and hurt.

And I was fighting tears all the way to school.