A/N: Hi everyone! :D Here goes chapter 6! Hope you guys enjoy it :)

Shoutout to the reviewers and readers who faved this story, love you lots 3 I read some guesses on what's going to happen in this chapter hahah I gotta say, you guys have a wild imagination! All of them were pretty interesting hahah! Keep trying, who knows, maybe someone might actually get it right :))

Please do leave a review :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

oOOOo

"Momo-chan's birthday is on the 3rd of June… still in spring, yet so close to summer. It fits her perfectly! Fresh and pure like spring, warm and energetic like summer. Not too hot to be in the middle of summer, and not too cold to be in the beginning of spring."

"I'm going to throw up."

"A perfect day set when the days turn warmer and warmer, when the rainy clouds drift away as the sun comes out."

"Oh come on, now." I laughed. "That's so cheesy!"

Kira narrowed his eyes at me jokingly. "One day, Toushirou, you will also fall in love with someone and you'll turn into a cheesy monster – as you've been defining me recently – yourself. Maybe you'll be even worse than me."

Want to come in?

It's been a couple of days since Rangiku's sleepover, and… there have been some interesting changes in our group.

Ichigo and Rukia have gone public – though everyone already knew that there was something between them; Momo and the girls are going mental over her approaching birthday party, and Kira has been pestering me with questions about Momo when I told him that we were going to be good buddies again.

Meanwhile, I've been planning out various ways for Kira to steal Momo's heart. Or to at least let her give him a shot.

"How about this then… During her birthday party, I'm going to snatch her away for a moment, take her somewhere we can be alone, and confess?" He ranted excitedly.

"How many times do I have to repeat that she's not into cliché situations?" I answered with a sigh, while doing math homework.

"It's not cliché!" He said, almost sounding offended. "It's romantic."

"She doesn't seem to like that, too." I mumbled, wondering if I was right that Momo rejected him for his excessive romanticism.

"What?" Kira asked, he probably didn't hear me.

"Nothing," I shut my notebook and looked out of the glassed door. "Ugh, look at that sun. I bet it's very hot outside."

"That's normal, Toushirou. It's almost summer." He explained patiently with a laugh. "Why do you hate it so much?"

"Because it's too hot. It's too bright." I took a piece of watermelon, which I prepared earlier for a snack. "Cold weather is better. Staying in bed when it's cold is the best."

"Cold weather isn't really the best when we you have soccer practice, though."

"Constantly running around a field warms us up pretty well." I readily answered. "Winter rocks."

Kira just shook his head, smiling in defeat. "Alright, stubborn guy." He quickly finished off his English homework and looked out of the window, directed towards Momo's house. "It's funny, though…" He then mumbled to himself, grabbing a slice of watermelon.

"What is?" I asked, with my mouth still full.

He laughed at my full mouth and answered "Momo-chan's birthday is on the 3rd of June… still in spring, yet so close to summer."

I raised my brow questioningly. "So?" I urged him to continue. I still didn't get his point.

"So, it fits her perfectly!" Kira explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Fresh and pure like spring, warm and energetic like summer. Not too hot to be in the middle of summer, and not too cold to be in the beginning of spring."

"I'm going to throw up."

He ignored me, he was already used to my random sour mood anyway. "A perfect day set when the days turn warmer and warmer, when the rainy clouds drift away as the sun comes out."

"Oh come on, now." I laughed. "That's so cheesy!"

Kira narrowed his eyes at me jokingly. "One day, Toushirou, you will also fall in love with someone and you'll turn into a cheesy monster – as you've been defining me recently – yourself. Maybe you'll be even worse than me."

"Not gonna happen." I munched on the fruit and nodded to myself. "This has to be the only good thing about summer."

"Watermelon?"

I gave him a thumbs up.

oOOOo

"So, we've got the venue where catering is included, the invitations are almost done, I already have my list of 18 Candles and 18 Roses, I already have a gown…" Momo listed off the things she's been organizing in the past days. "What else?"

"Music for the 18 Roses. Cake, the theme of the party… escort!" Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime contributed to the things they still had to do, making Momo shove her hands in her hair.

"Escort!" She screamed in despair.

"Escort!" Agreed Rangiku.

"Escort!" Teased Rukia.

"Can you girls stop repeating 'escort' and talk in a normal language please?" Said Ichigo.

"List of songs, everybody, brainstorm!" And brainstorm we did, everyone scribbled down on their own piece of paper eligible songs for slow dancing. The guys volunteered to help Momo out with her preparations, what choice did I have if not contribute too?

"Momo, the party is merely two weeks away. You have to ask him now." I heard Rukia speak to Momo while we were all still contributing to the playlist of the 18 Roses.

"I know…" Momo answered in a worried voice, even I could feel the anxiousness irradiating off of her. "You have to help me. How do I do it? Like, 'Yo' man, wazzup? 'Wanna be my wingman, dude? Wanna party hard at mah B-day?'"

I chuckled under my breath, amused that even during times of extreme anxiety – for her, at least – she still found the time to mess around like that. Kira elbowed me in the ribs, silently scolding me for laughing when Momo was so distressed.

"Just ask him! Pull your lady balls out and just say 'Hey, would you like to be my escort for my birthday party?'" Rukia started to push Momo out of the living room.

"But, I don't have balls!" Said Momo before disappearing into the hallway with Rukia, Orihime and Rangiku. Meanwhile, I laughed. Seriously, that girl…

"Momo has it tough, huh?" Renji commented, scratching his head. "I have no idea on what song to suggest."

"Go figure, you ignorant baboon." Said Ishida.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Yelled the baboon, as he snatched Ishida's piece of paper, reading the list of songs. "'I'll always love you'? 'Time after time'? 'Total eclipse of the heart'?"

Ichigo, Ikkaku and Yumichika started laughing.

"What? You don't even know what these songs are?" Ishida got his sheet back, smartly fixing his glasses on his nose.

"Of course I do! That one song there is the 'Turn around bright eyes' thing, right?" Renji answered indignantly.

"Oh yeah? Turn around bright eyes?" I asked mockingly, holding back my laughter. "What song is it? Can you sing it?"

The red haired guy smugly laughed "HAH! See? Toushirou doesn't know it!" He cleared his throat and started singing in his tone deaf way. "Turn arouuuuuuuund – everynowandthenIgetalittlebitlonely-"

We all burst out in laughter. Making fun of Renji has to be one of the best ways to entertain myself when I get bored.

"What?!" He didn't even look embarrassed "That's the song!"

"Yeah, hey. Guys, he's right." Said Ichigo, suddenly turning serious, while reading Renji's list. "Can you uh, sing this one?" He shoved the piece of paper in Renji's face. "The one with Eminem?"

"'Lose yourself'? Yeah, sure. Nothing easier." Renji confidently answered, clearing his throat. "Mom's spaghetti! Knees are pee, mom's spaghetti! He's nervous! But on the Sulphur he looks palm and bready!" To accompany is fantastic rapping, he moved like he was a pro at it.

There went another round of laughter.

By the time we all calmed down and got back to business, it was my turn to scratch my head in confusion. What kind of song should I even write down?

Slow dance… Scurrying through my memories of every movie I've watched, I tried to remember what songs were used in romantic movies. I just wrote down the few songs I could remember, probably opportune for a slow dance. Meh, who cares? It's not like I'm the only one who's handing her a list of songs to pick from.

The girls walked back in the living room, looking gloomy.

Kira and I exchanged quick questioning looks and turned back to them. "What happened?" He asked.

No one said a word, until Momo let out a long sigh. "He said he has a basketball match on the day of my party." Then she smiled "Oh well. Hey, what were you guys laughing about earlier?"

She seemed perfectly fine. The other three looked gloomier than her, which made no sense.

Well, Momo looks like she's fine, so I guess everything's okay. Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime are probably overreacting.

'This is Kira's chance! He can be her escort!' I then thought, turning to look at my best friend. He was pursing his lips, and his hands were balled in fists. Whoa, he looked mad. "Uh… Kira?"

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to writing down his list. Oh shit, just how many songs did he write down?

oOOOo

As usual, we were going to have lunch at the school's rooftop. The sun shone far too brightly for my taste, but whatever. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

The guys and I waited for the girls to come up before eating, they were still at the canteen.

When they finally got here and sat down, we began eating.

I noticed something as I was about to take a sip of my bottle of water. "Where's your orange juice?"

Momo blinked in confusion, looking around her. "Oh. I forgot." She laughed at her own forgetfulness. "I'll just buy something to drink before going back in the classroom."

Even today, the main topic was Momo's birthday party. It's merely a week away, the girls are now finalizing the last things that needed to be fixed.

Meanwhile, Kira was staring at Momo's lunchbox. Why would he do that? Is he still hungry? "Get a hold of yourself, dude." I whispered, nudging him subtly "Want half of my sandwich?"

He turned to look at me with an incredulous expression "What?"

"Stop ogling at her lunchbox." And just as I said that, he looked back at Momo's lunchbox.

Momo finally noticed, and she held the said lunchbox towards Kira with a smile "Would you like to try some, Kira-kun? My mom prepared it this morning."

Kira quickly shook his head, faintly blushing "No, thanks, Momo-chan. You should eat some more. You barely touched your food."

Quirking my eyebrow, I peeked at Momo's lunchbox. The food, which was usually so colorful, looked simple and healthy. And she's a big eater, she usually finishes her lunch very quickly.

Now it was, as Kira said, barely touched.

"Stop distracting her, guys." Rangiku scolded Kira and me. What? I didn't do anything! "So, back on topic. The theme for your party… you said you wanted to see this one –…" They went on with their discussion, and I went on with my sandwich.

oOOOo

"I'm telling you, she's been acting weird since last week." Kira said as he cleaned the blackboard. Kira and a couple of other classmates were in charge of cleaning duty today, while I was in charge of the class journal.

I just shrugged and continued writing on the class journal. "Or you're just being paranoid."

"No no no." He insisted, leaning back against the wall. "Trust me. Take her lunch, for example. Remember when she told us that she always prepares it by herself? Her mom prepared it this time!"

"Well, maybe she just woke up late so her mom prepared it for her."

"Fine. Then explain her lack of appetite." Kira got the mop and started cleaning the floor "You know how much she loves eating."

I shrugged. "Maybe she had too many snacks before lunch break?"

"What about her favorite orange juice?" He asked slowly. "You noticed it first."

That affirmation made me raise my brows in surprise. What was that even supposed to mean? "Everyone probably noticed that." I finished writing the last thing in the journal and closed it, looking up at Kira "I think Momo's pretty much acting as she usually is."

"Exactly, she's just acting it."

I rolled my eyes and helped him clean the rest of the classroom "You're just being paranoid."

"No, I'm just worried." He calmly when we were done cleaning up. "I think that it's because that Aizen guy is not coming along."

"Very well, then." I huffed, putting my bag over my shoulder, ready to go "You should tell Momo that you can be her escort."

Kira just blushed.

oOOOo

I was relaxing under the tree in my backyard, already on the verge of falling asleep under the cool shade.

"Ah! Just in time!" I heard someone talk, but I didn't bother to search the source of the voice. "Toushirou!"

"No." I grumbled, turning on my side.

"Aw come on! We need your smart brain!" That was Rukia.

"If I help you now, will you leave me alone for the rest of my life?"

"Of course not!" Rangiku replied confidently with a laugh.

Groaning in frustration, I got up from my spot and walked up to the fence that divided our backyards "What do you want?"

Rukia dramatically cleared her throat and began a long introduction to whatever she wanted to ask me. "As you know, Karakura's traditional 18th birthday for girls is very special and grand. A beautiful venue, high quality food and cake, a dazzling dress and every other things are very important. But the crucial part is the escort."

I rolled my eyes. "Just go straight to the point, Rukia."

"You have to help us find the perfect escort for Momo."

"Kira. Okay, I'm done." I turned to leave but the two screamed to stop me. "What?"

"You know he can't do it!" Rangiku said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's going to create big misunderstandings."

I quirked my brow at her. "What? Because you think Momo will never come to like Kira?"

"Well, she did reject him twice." Muttered Rukia. "Seriously, though. We're running out of ideas here. If someone comes to mind, let us know. Time is ticking, we need someone who is available the day of Momo's party."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at the two girls who looked back at me with hopeful eyes. After our staring contest, I gave in. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this party?"

"Because it's her 18th, and this is how we do it in Karakura!" Explained Rangiku. The two then exchanged a quick look, but full of hidden meanings.

Rukia pursed her lips, and in a low voice, she spoke. "Momo really cares about this party. And she's really bummed about Aizen flunking out on her like that… so we figured that finding her a good escort who can let her have a good time at her party and keep Aizen off her mind on her special day was probably a good solution."

"I'm pretty sure she can have a good time even without an escort." I deadpanned sarcastically, but their sad look has always had a little strange effect on me "But I guess she won't be able to help but think how the party could have been if he had been by her side, huh?"

"See? You get it." Rangiku sighed. "Well, we're going back in. Momo and Orihime are preparing us some snacks. Want to join us?"

I just dismissively waved my hand and walked back to my spot under the tree, while the two walked back in Momo's house.

So Kira was right. Momo really was affected by Aizen's absence.

I looked up at the clear blue sky, the sun shone brightly. With a sigh, I walked inside my house and began my research for possible candidates as Momo's escort.

oOOOo

Around 6 pm I could hear Rangiku's obnoxiously loud voice outside, saying goodbye to Momo, along with Rukia and Orihime.

I peeked out of our living room's window which faced the front of our house, and saw the three girls walking in the direction of their houses, their faces etched with worry.

Ugh, why do girls have to be so dramatic? They better stop making that face when I find the perfect escort for Momo, jeez.

Damn it, though. My list is done, but Rangiku and the others were already gone. Does Momo even know that I prepared this list? How am I supposed to present this to her?

Taking a deep breath, I folded the piece of paper in my hand and headed out of my house, then turned to Momo's house.

I'll just slip the list under her front door, she doesn't have to see it right away anyway. The front gate was left open, as usual, I jogged my way through the front lawn, since the gate was open anyway, and I stepped up on the porch. I knelt down and slipped the list under the front door, making sure that it got inside the house.

When I turned to leave, I was suddenly stopped by Momo's voice. "Who is it?" She asked, without opening the door. "Toushirou?"

I glanced at the door, but it was still closed. Well, she knows it's me. Escaping silently makes no sense now, so I decided to stay. "It's a, uh… list." I was still very close to the door, I could very faintly hear the sound of the piece of paper rustling under her hands. "You know, for your escort." I quickly added, rubbing the back of my neck.

Shit, why am I so nervous? It's not like I committed a crime or anything. You're just embarrassed, said a voice in the back of my head. Whoah, am I hearing things now? And, I am not embarrassed.

I look like an idiot who's talking to himself, out here. Maybe that's why I'm embarrassed. I was tempted to ask Momo to let me in, but that probably made no sense. I mean… a guy walking in a girl's house when she's all alone in the evening didn't sound so good.

Momo still didn't say anything, by the sound of it she was going through the list I wrote, but it shouldn't take her so long since it was very short. While waiting, I decided to just sit down, leaning my back against the door.

"You made this?" She then asked.

"Yeah," I immediately answered, kind of curious on how she'll react at the sight of particular names I wrote down.

"Mizuiro?" I heard her ask. "Well, yeah, he is the gentleman kind of guy."

I smiled to myself; the girl knew pretty much everyone in town, she was the 'all around' type of person. She loved Karakura as much as the villagers loved her.

The soft thudding sounds coming from the other side of the door suggested that she slowly sat down on the floor. "Wow, is this Ikkaku's name I'm reading?" She said incredulously.

"Hey, don't underestimate him." I mockingly scolded her, leaning my head back against the door. "I figured that, with Ikkaku, you'll never get bored." Then, I remembered Renji's rapping from the other day "Renji is also in the 'entertaining escort' category, if you'd like."

Momo burst out into a fit of laughter, I could hear the sound of her hand slamming on the wall. I smiled, already imagining her laughing her ass off and smacking her hand against something, as she usually did.

"If Ichigo wasn't dating Rukia, I probably would have put him in the list too." I said when she finally calmed down.

"Ehhh… Ichigo's not bad." She said, sounding distracted.

"He had the escort material." I jokingly said. "Ishida was a good candidate too, if only he was a bit more talkative."

No noise came from the other side of the door, for a moment I thought that Momo already left or fell asleep. Until she softly spoke up. "You really thought it through, didn't you?"

I figured she was referring to the list I made. "No, not really. But don't expect gifts from me on your birthday, I've already put enough contribution for your party preparations." I added jokingly.

A faint laughter came through the door "Thanks. I appreciate it."

I looked down at my sneakers, not sure if I should feel embarrassed or worried at her sad tone. The two of us didn't utter another word for a long moment. We just sat together, separated by the door.

Then, I heard shuffling sounds from the inside. I sat up straight, and Momo opened the door. "Want to come in? We have some cake in the fridge." She smiled.

And then, it hit me. The reason I didn't leave quickly as planned wasn't because she caught me slipping the list under her door. The reason I stayed back to sit down and talk with her in that ridiculous manner, divided by a door, was because I was waiting.

I was waiting for her to show up. Because I needed to see for myself how she was doing.

All because of the big change in her voice from the moment she bid farewell to the girls to when she asked who was at the door.

In that moment, the sadness in her voice was so unlike her.

"You really thought it through, didn't you?"

Of course I did. I'm not going to let some guy named Aizen ruin my friend's birthday.

"I'll pass." I answered, then, getting up from my sitting spot. "I'll see you tomorrow."

In my mind, I was still convinced that fretting over so much for a party was ridiculous. Go figure how ridiculous it is to fret over an escort. Momo can easily replace him with Kira, for Pete's sake.

But… Aizen Sousuke is, after all, her beloved crush since childhood. Though, without considering any sort of romantic feelings in this situation, one would expect him to attend his childhood friend's 18th birthday party.

Now I understand why the girls were so worried.

oOOOo

A/N: And chapter 6 is dooone! I'm already working on chapter 7, so I might update soon :)

So what was your favorite part? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter? Leave a review and let me know :D

Toodles!