• • •

"Shut up!" Kukaku seethed. "You got a problem with it?"

The dark haired woman threatened them with her fist again, quickly getting them to apologize. I couldn't fight the smirk off of my face; she had those two whipped.

"Ah, Yoruichi-San?" Orihime asked, looking down at the black cat that casually strolled into the room.

Yoruichi seemed to ignore her, walking over to Ichigo. "So Ichigo's finally created a cannonball, too."

"What's wrong?" Ganju asked, pushing himself off of the ground as he stared at Yoruichi, who had paused before Ichigo. The strawberry had yet to push himself from the floor and it sounded like he was breathing quite heavily…

Wait… was he asleep?!

"Don't worry; he's just sleeping." Yoruichi said, shrugging off Ganju's concern as she turned to face us and sat down in front of the snoozing strawberry. "More importantly, you kids have a seat over here."

I blinked, confused. "Why are we just sitting down?"

Yoruichi grinned up at me. "Ichigo may be sleeping, but the rest of us don't have the time right now. I will tell you the plan for when we break into the Seireitei. Mind it well and-NYAA!"

The cat's scream caused all of us to jump in surprise; after all, it was a horrible sound that resembled nails raking across a chalkboard.

"Y-Yoruichi-San!" Orihime gushed, quickly running towards the yowling cat.

"Ooh," I acknowledged, nodding my head as I followed after Orihime and stepped closer. "Ichigo grabbed Yoruichi's tail!"

Said strawberry was still sound asleep, mouth open and beginning to drool. His hand had unconsciously shot out, wrapping around Yoruichi's thin black tail. Yoruichi's amber eyes were wide, tears freely flowing down as she continued to shriek and paw at the ground.

"We'll help, Yoruichi-San." Ishida offered, stepping forward as well and crouching down beside Yoruichi and Ichigo.

"Mm," Chad added, nodding his head as he walked around Ichigo and took a seat beside Ichigo's hand. His large fists curled around Ichigo's fingers, trying to pry them loose. However, he wasn't very successful.

"Che, look at the trouble you're causing, Ichigo…" I muttered, rolling my eyes as I watched Chad struggle to help free Yoruichi's tail.

"Junko! Help!" Yoruichi hissed, turning her head to glare at me. "Don't just sit there!"

"Alright, alright..!" I huffed, holding my hands out in a sign of surrender. "Although, if Chad can't get you free then I doubt I can do anything…"

Releasing a sigh, I crawled over towards the sleeping Shinigami. I crouched down next to him, observing his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth was wide open, a bit of drool beginning to accumulate on the floor. For once his face seemed blank, wiped of all emotion.

I narrowed my eyebrows, sternly glaring down at Ichigo.

"Um, Jun-Chan, I don't think glaring at him will help…" Orihime meekly suggested, weakly chuckling.

"I know it won't. It's just to help me get ready for what I'm about to do." I explained, "If this doesn't work, then I'm not sure what will."

"W-What are you planning on doing to Kurosaki-Kun?" The auburn haired girl asked, eyes widening a bit in surprise.

To answer her, I smirked at her before turning to gaze down at tangerine head. Sucking in a deep breath, I yelled.

"Oi! Ichigo! Get your ass up!" I screeched next to his ear, lightly smacking the side of his face with my hand a couple of times. Orihime, Ishida, and Ganju covered their ears, wincing at my shrill tone. Chad looked like he was shocked a bit, but it was hard to tell with his impassive face. Kukaku looked like she was slightly impressed, while Yoruichi was still struggling to get out of Ichigo's hold.

Ichigo twitched a bit, eyebrows narrowing.

It looked like he mumbled something, but it was so faint none of us heard anything audible. But he didn't wake up.

"Well, damn." I cursed, lightly whistling. "If that didn't wake him up, I don't know what will."

Yoruichi's howls grew more hysterical, believing that she wasn't going to be freed anytime soon. I watched her, feeling pity; I've never been a cat, so I don't know what it would feel like to get my tail caught like that, but it did look painful. Releasing a sigh of frustration, I raked a hand through my hair, thinking of a way to help free her.

"I mean, I remember Yuzu telling me that Ichigo was a sound sleeper; I never would have guessed that he was this bad…" I muttered, crossing my arms as my eyes scanned over his soundly sleeping form.

Ishida blinked. "She told you that?"

"Yeah," I nodded, grinning. "Yuzu loves to talk about Ichigo. She really looks up to him. So, she talks about him all the time. It's pretty nice learning about the things that he'd never tell a soul about!"

"Like what?" The archer questioned, pushing up his glasses and looking like he wanted to take a notebook out to jot some stories down.

I laughed, "I wouldn't tell you! Yuzu trusts me enough that she'll tell me those things. You have to gain her trust if you wanna hear those embarrassing stories!"

"Guys," Chad interrupted, "Yoruichi-San still needs help."

"Oh, right!" I gasped, jumping to my feet and nimbly leaping over Ichigo's body. I settled myself down next to Chad, intensely looking at the death grip that the strawberry had on Yoruichi's tail.

"How about we all try and pry his fingers away? One by one." Ishida suggested, pushing up his glasses as he leaned over Ichigo's hand as well.

"Sounds like a plan to me." I shrugged, looking up at the giant beside me to see if he agreed to the plan as well. Orihime meekly watched us, lightly patting Ichigo's shoulder like it would help calm him down.

"Mhm," Chad murmured, "Let's try it."

We counted to three, each of us trying out hardest to move Ichigo's fingers even a few centimeters; we weren't picky, it just had to be enough for Yoruichi to get her tail out of his grip.

After a few seconds of displaying our brute strength, we finally managed to pry his fingers back a bit.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, grinning down as I watched Yoruichi book it across the room away from Ichigo.

"My tail..!" Yoruichi wailed, laying down and looking at her zig-zagging tail in horror. I bit my lip to hold in my giggles; I didn't want to face the wrath of a seething Yoruichi.

"GAH!" I exclaimed, screaming once Ichigo's hand clamped down around my own. I tried tugging it out of his grasp, wincing once I found that it wasn't moving one bit. "Guys, help..!"

Ishida merely snickered, adverting his eyes sheepishly once he saw the glare that I sent his way. Orihime was sheepishly smiling as well, although I could tell that it was a fake smile. Chad shrugged in response, looking down at our intertwined hands. Yoruichi was no help, still crying over her bent tail. Ganju would never help a Shinigami…

I was screwed.

"This isn't funny…" I whined, trying to look as helpless as I could as I gazed up at my so called 'friends.' Why weren't they trying to help?!

"If we try to help you, Kurosaki might clamp down on one of our hands. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that we don't want to hold Kurosaki's hand all night." Ishida explained.

"What about me?! Do you think I want to be stuck here all night?!" I screeched, glaring at the Quincy.

"If Ichigo has to sleep with something in his grip then it might as well be you," Yoruichi called out from her corner, her eyes angry slits. "Do you object?"

"Hell yes, I do!" I cried, still trying to tug myself free. "Can't someone find him a teddy bear or some-THING?!"

I yelped as Ichigo forcibly tugged on my arm as he rolled over in his sleep, dragging me down with him. Before I could sit back up, his other arm snaked around my waist, holding me firmly to his side.

"Guys, help..!" I yelled, failing about as I tried to get out of his hold.

Ganju loudly laughed, "Sleep tight, Shinigami~!"

"JERK!" I yelled after him as he walked out of the room. I blinked, dumbfounded. "You guys, too?!"

Kukaku left the room, smirking at me as she left. Yoruichi was right at her heels, making sure to still keep her distance from the sleeping strawberry that was currently cuddling with me. Orihime awkwardly stood, shuffling her feet as she looked anywhere but at me. Ishida and Chad rose to their feet as well.

"Sorry, Jun-Chan." Orihime apologized, still not meeting my gaze. "Kurosaki-Kun…looks comfy."

I felt my jaw drop as heat flooded my cheeks at her response.

"Inoue-San is right," Ishida said. "Besides, we don't have anything else to give him to hold on to."

"Sorry," Chad said, lightly bowing his head as he made his way to the door; Orihime and Ishida quickly followed.

I whimpered, hoping that they would hear the pathetic noise and come running to help me. Not a single one of them looked back!

"Traitors!" I screeched, struggling against Ichigo's hold.

After a few minutes of no progress whatsoever, I heaved a heavy sigh of defeat and fell limp. My forehead landed on Ichigo's chest, and I didn't even feel like moving; I was more focused on getting my breath back. Struggling for minutes on hand felt more demanding than you'd think.

Bored, I angled my head so I was staring at Ichigo.

This was one of the few times that I had seen his face so peaceful looking. Of course, I didn't expect that he'd sleep with that scowl on his face, but I didn't expect him to look so at ease. It was…comforting to see him so relaxed. Not only that, but listening to his steady heart beat was relaxing too. Like him, his heartbeat was strong.

My gaze traveled from his face, down his to his chest. I could feel my own chest constrict when I saw the large scar. His Shihakusho was a little looser than normal, so the front was open a bit wider; that's why a portion of his newest scar was exposed.

Who was responsible for that scar? I felt like I wanted to hurt them just as badly; mar their body, whether it be perfect or not. I remember Urahara and Ichigo talking… I knew that Kuchiki-Taicho had been there that night. Renji as well. But… Renji couldn't have done that, could he?

No, I thought as my gaze trailed over to the white cloth wrapped around my upper arm, Renji wouldn't do that. I mean, he might if he thought Rukia was in any danger, but I didn't want to think of it coming down to that. I trusted Renji.

Kuchiki-Taicho had to have left that scar. He would let nothing stand in his way; he'd even be cruel enough to shatter someone's existence as a Shinigami, leaving them lying in cold blood. He was a Taicho, after all.

Shakily, I reached my free hand up. I traced what was visible of Ichigo's scar, feeling my eyes soften. He'd been through so much…and yet he was still fighting. I then trailed my light touch up, tracing along his strong jaw.

I tensed once my hand strayed to his cheek, warm against his cool face. Ichigo moved a bit, unconsciously leaning into my touch. Biting my lip, I tried to keep the smile off of my face; although I didn't want to admit it, this was really cute. He was almost like a little kid wanting to cuddle close to someone. I was surprised when he let go of my hand, taking to wrapping his other arm around me as well and tugging me up and closer to him.

"I-Ichigo?" I tentatively asked, wondering if he had woken up. However, I didn't get a response; he was still sound asleep, judging from the soothing rhythmic sounds of his deep breathing. My breath hitched in my throat as he buried his face in the crook of my neck, gently nuzzling before releasing a small sigh. "You better be sound asleep."

Fidgeting a bit, I tried to find a comfortable position without jostling Ichigo too much; he could wake up at any moment, and I wasn't going to take the chance of him waking up this close to me. My eyes trailed across the portion of the room that I could see, though it was mainly the ceiling. It was late but I wasn't tired yet. That was probably because I was way out of my comfort zone being this close to someone.

Orange.

My eyes kept traveling back to the head of orange hair that was a bit above me. I had always wondered what he did to it to make it look so spiky. Did he just brush it and leave it at that? Or did he maybe put gel or mousse in it to get it to spike just right? Well, he's sound asleep right now, so he'd never know if I touched it…

Giggling a bit, I reached up and ran my fingers slowly through those orange locks. I could feel my eyes widen in shock; his hair was much softer than what I thought it would be. It was probably even softer than my own hair! I could feel a grin tugging at the corners of my lips as I lightly tugged on one of the spikes that stuck up; they just seemed to naturally defy gravity on their own.

"…Mm…" Ichigo hummed as my nails lightly raked across his scalp, his breath hot against my neck.

I froze, turning rigid in Ichigo's grip. All that was going through my mind was, 'Oh shit!' I hoped I didn't wake him up. This was a much too compromising position to wake up to.

After a few moments of nothing else happening, I began to relax. He was still asleep. That was both good and bad.

This was going to be a long night.

• • •

I didn't have any nightmares.

I was quite shocked at first when I woke up, feeling quite refreshed for a change. I could tell that I had slept longer than usual and it was revitalizing.

Ichigo was still deep asleep when I woke up, but again, I counted this as a blessing. I didn't want to be around when he did wake up. That would be too awkward. So I had to think of a plan on how to get away without waking him up.

Easier said than done.

Hearing the sliding door open, I froze. Who in their right mind would be coming in here now? Unless they wanted to offer help, knowing that I'd suffered through enough.

"You look pretty comfortable." Ganju's voice drawled, smirking as he entered the room and carefully shut the door behind him.

"Shut it, Ganju." I snapped, craning my neck so I could glare at the younger Shiba sibling. "This is highly uncomfortable; I've been thinking of ways to get away the whole time."

Lies, but hopefully he believed them.

"Uh-huh," Ganju blankly nodded, rolling his eyes. "You're a Shinigami and you can't even escape a sleeping one? Pathetic…"

My eyes cut to two icy blue slits, "I'd like to see you try; this guy's strength is insane. Besides, I know strength isn't my forte."

"I'll say." Ganju muttered, sitting down a few feet from us.

"Why are you even here, Ganju?" I asked, rolling my eyes. If his goal was to annoy me, then mission accomplished. If he would only go away then maybe I could think of something to do to get out of Ichigo's hold.

The younger Shiba's eyes narrowed, looking down at the floor. "Why are you trying so hard to save a criminal?"

"Huh?" I asked, blinking.

Where did this change of heart come from? I don't recall Ganju ever saying more than a couple of words to me, if that, because I was a Shinigami. Now he was asking serious questions about my motive? Was he sleep walking or something?

"I mean, why are you trying to save that other Shinigami chick? Is it for money? Did you promise to save her or anything?" He asked, meeting my questioning gaze head on. "Why does this mean so much to you?"

"Rukia's my friend." I answered, my gaze lingering to the ceiling. "She was the very first friend that I made. When I was young, all the other kids thought that I was weird. I could see things that they couldn't; they thought I was crazy. I eventually became a Shinigami years later and I met Rukia. She didn't think I was too weird. She accepted me for who I was…" I trailed off, before sighing and continuing. "I don't know what I'd do without her, if they did execute her. I'd consider her family… I've already lost everyone else; I don't want to lose her too."

Ganju merely scoffed. I slowly turned my gaze towards him, glaring.

"You two are different."

"Excuse me?" I asked, warily blinking at Ganju and willing for more of an explanation. Of course we were different; I'd never met two people exactly the same.

"I mean you and Ichigo. You're both different from the other Shinigami." He clarified, his eyes not meeting my own.

I slightly nodded, trying not to jostle the sleeping Ichigo who was still in the crook of my neck. "Of course we're different. We have our own ideals; we haven't taken up the Shinigami's rules and society. We're still human. We value life more and appreciate it."

Ganju was quiet for a few moments, taking what I had said in. I had to admit that I jumped a bit when he flew to his feet and walked over right beside us.

"Wha-?" I questioned, eyes widening when he skillfully dug two fingers into Ichigo's upper arm and the entire limb went limp. I smiled, slowly wiggling free from his hold.

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed a bit in his sleep and he rolled onto his back, but he still stayed in his deep sleep. I bitterly laughed, my eyes traveling from his body to Ganju. "Was it really that easy?"

"Yeah," Ganju shrugged, scratching his nose as he looked away from my gaze. "Now go and freshen up. We'll be leaving soon anyway."

"Really? When?" I asked, feeling my eyes widen as I scurried to my feet. I was unaware that we'd be leaving so soon. Or had we really been asleep for that long?

"We're launching at sunrise." He answered, "Now scram. I've got to practice something."

Chuckling, I smiled. "Of course. I'll see you later."

"Whatever," Ganju shrugged, waving me off.

I paused by the sliding door, turning towards the younger Shiba sibling. Maybe he was a person than I had first thought. "Thank you, Ganju."