END OF APRIL

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Katsuko sketched on loose-leaf paper she brought in a folder. She didn't listen to Suzumura since she was only taking attendance. She only kept an ear out for her name and when taking attendance was over. She didn't even glance up at the teacher when she called her name, she just lazily held up her non-dominant hand and continued to sketch with her right hand.

"Alright, class! Now that attendance is out of the way, I'd like to discuss about the big assignment we'll be doing for the three terms."

Katsuko lent her teacher both her ears now.

"We'll be working on a big assignment that will be divided into three parts, one part for one term. It will be a project done by a group of two people."

Katsuko nearly tutted out loud.

"The first two parts will be written portions, while the third will have a minor written portion along with a presentation."

She stopped drawing. Some students began to groan when they heard the dreadful 'p' word. Katsuko was one of them, except her groaning was louder… and internal. The thought of standing in front of the whole classroom to talk for about ten minutes just stressed her out… and the school year just started.

"Obviously, you will be keeping the same partner until the end of the year. Can't have your working with new people who have done completely different things, right? However, I will take action and change the teams if I hear that one member is not doing their part in the group. I won't stand for slacking off, it's not fair. I've also gone ahead and chosen the teams beforehand to get things rolling quicker."

Again, the students groaned. Katsuko lowered her pencil and leaned back in her seat.

"Now, I'll be calling out the pairs. Those who have been called, please raise your hands so that you may see who your partner is."

"Yamada and Kanzaki."

"Kimura and Takagi."

"Arioka and Kanazawa."

"Ikuta and Matsumoto—"

Ikuta and Matsumoto let out cries of joy.

Suzumura quirked up an eyebrow.

"Sorry."

Katsuko was one of the students who snickered.

"Morita and Oguri."

"Hiragi and Kurosaki."

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Hmm...

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Fuck my life.

Slowly, Katsuko raised her hand and turned her head towards the back of the room to her left. The corner where her year-long partner was sitting. Ichigo also had his hand up and he was looking back right at her. After a few seconds, they lowered their hands back down and brought their attention back to the teacher at the front of the classroom.

Her cool face certainly didn't match her sudden rapid heart beats and screaming thoughts. Clearly, god was enjoying toying with her fate like as if it was some sort of an entertainment show for them, wanting to see how awkward it would get for her. When Suzumura was done revealing the teams, she told everyone to join their partners by changing seats for now during her absence. She had forgotten to bring a sheet of paper while leaving the faculty office.

"While I'm gone, you guys could you use this chance to get to know each other!"

On her way out of the classroom, students were already following her instruction and were already moving around the class to join their assigned partner.

Katsuko couldn't help but let a heavy sigh escape before she turned in her seat to look at Ichigo again. He was gathering his things together and he looked like he was getting ready to get up from his seat to join her at her desk. He saw her looking at him and he paused for a moment before motioning a finger back and forth as if asking if he should move to go to her or if she would be joining him in the back instead. Before she could give in type of response, a classmate stopped next to her desk and smiled at her. They told her that their partner was seated next to Katsuko, which the girl instantly took as her cue to get up and move to the back.

Her hands snatched her belongings quickly as to not keep the student waiting too long before shuffling over to the back of the class where the orange haired student was seated. The person next to him had already left their seat, leaving it vacant for her. After taking her seat next to him, she put down her things and turned in her chair so her body would be facing him. He did the some and put an arm on the backrest of his chair.

Katsuko clenched her hidden fist in her jacket pocket.

Not good… such an awkward silence.

She just wanted to get this class done and over with so that she may retreat to the bathroom and silently scream and cleanse herself of the awkward air.

Without saying anything, Ichigo scratched his head when he saw how she was just keeping her gaze on her fingers that were playing around with the pencil between her fingers. His eyes shifted away from her to view the classroom and observe the new teams. The majority were already getting along as they were smiling and chatting during their teacher's absence while the rest were quiet and waiting for the return of their teacher. Ichigo faced her again. Still no reaction. He decided to break the silence.

"So, what's your name again?"

Katsuko's dark brown eyes shifted upwards and made contact with his lighter ones. "Hiragi Katsuko."

"Right…" he cleared his throat. "Anyway, do you want to trade numbers so we can communicate outside of school for the assignment?" He asked while reaching for his phone in his pocket.

Katsuko frowned. "I don't have a number…"

Ichigo gave her a surprised look. "Oh… um…" he paused to try and think of another alternative to keep in touch.

"But I have Facebook."

"Then, that works too. I'll add you."

Katsuko pulled out her phone and opened her app. Thankfully, the school's internet service wasn't too bad. She kept refreshing the page until she saw a red notification on the friend button. When it appeared, she found Ichigo's name asking for a friend request. His profile picture was the number fifteen. Funny.

"How come you don't have a number?" Ichigo asked curiously once he verified that she confirmed his request. They both put away their devices in their pockets.

"Uh, I don't really need one. Messenger is just fine."

Ichigo slowly nodded with a short hum. He wanted to say something else but alas nothing came to mind. His partner just resumed with playing and twirling her pencil after she sensed that the conversation just died. Ichigo breathed in and out of his nose a little heavily instead of sighing. His partner was a girl, and from his experience, girls at his school were the ones who took the circulating rumors seriously. Not just the girls but also the boys. His negative reputation made people feel like they were walking around egg shells around him. Ichigo didn't bother to try and prove the rumors wrong since that would mean he'd be trying to prove the whole school his innocence. Those upperclassmen weren't going to help better his situation either.

But, this was a group work. He was going to be working with this person for exactly the whole three terms of the year. For the sake of their grades, he supposed that clearing up the misunderstanding would be quite favorable for both of them. The task should also be fairly easy since he remembered that she happened to witness one of his encounters with those annoying upperclassmen.

"Look, you don't have to be scared of me. I can't really control the rumors circulating around school. I just get called a delinquent here because the seniors are picking fights with me just because of the colour of my hair." He scratched the back of his head. "They don't like how it stands out."

Katsuko stopped playing with the pencil in her hands. She looked up at him once more. Her face expressed confusion. Scared? Of him? Since when?

When she was able understand what he was saying, she only furrowed her brows a little as she shook her head.

"I'm not scared of you." She said simply.

Because I don't get involved with your business. Of course I'm not scared if I'm not involved.

"You're not? I thought—"

The door at the front of the classroom opened. Their teacher returned. She walked back inside while waving the sheet of paper in her hand. "Alright, I'm back!"

Upon hearing Suzumura's voice, everyone began to sit properly in their seats to receive further instructions on their big assignment. Katsuko already had her legs under the desk before Ichigo did the same. From the corner of his eye, he saw how she purposely pulled her sleeve to make it longer, which she used to hide her mouth when she propped her head up with her hand under her chin. Her posture was stiff. Ichigo propped his head up with his knuckles pressed against the side of his chin.

I guess… she's just shy?

When the bell chimed for the last time for the day, everyone gathered their things and proceeded to leave the classroom while their teacher reminded them about the homework that was due the next day. All the students were ready to head home and rest.

As Ichigo shut his shoe locker, he saw Katsuko pass by him with two boys. Compared to when she was with him, she seemed way more talkative and goofier with the two boys. It somewhat helped him to affirm his guess from a few hours ago. The two boys stopped walking right in front of the entrance to look closely at a phone while Katsuko stood behind them. Sensing that they were blocking the exit, she panicked and shoved them and away from the exit quickly, causing them to cry out her name in protest.

"Katsuko!"

"Careful! You're going to make me drop my juice!"

Ichigo walked past them and put a hand under his chin.

Katsuko… I feel like I've heard that name before… Hiragi Katsuko…

Ever since her name has been mentioned twice out loud that day. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that he knew that name. The name was prodding a memory but he couldn't quite recall it. It was definitely from back when he was a kid. He most likely heard the name when his mother was still alive, that he was sure of.

… I'll try the clinic records.

Ichigo shut the door behind him and locked the door. He easily removed his school shoes and placed them neatly on the side before entering the house in his socks. He was about to take the stairs and head up to his room until he heard faint noise coming from behind the door ahead of him. The door the led to the living room and kitchen. He went over to that door and opened it while making his presence known.

"I'm home." He announced.

There he found his two younger twin sisters watching TV on the couch. The brown haired sibling, Yuzu, perked up at the sound of his voice and immediately hopped off the couch to greet him. She had a bright happy smile on her face as she approached him hurriedly. "Welcome home, onii-chan!" she said before hugging him around his torso. The gesture brought a small smile on his face.

Ichigo put a hand on her head and looked around the room. "Where's dad?"

The other sister, Karin, got on her knees and turned around to place her hands on the soft backrest. She was chewing something. "He's in the clinic putting away the new shipment of medicine." she answered before turning back around. "Oh, and welcome back Ichi-nii."

Yuzu gasped a little and she released her brother. "I'll go take out that chocolate pudding you were saving so you can eat something! You must be hungry for a snack!" she said before scurrying off to go look in the fridge.

"Thanks, but I'll take it out myself. I'm going to go do something first." He said before heading out of the room and taking the stairs up to his room, causing Yuzu to whine about how he should at least eat a snack after school.

His sisters were impressive for eight year olds, especially Yuzu, she was extremely impressive. She was already taking care of most of the household chores in order to ease their father's burden. They learned that being a single parent was difficult, even more so if you raised more than one child. Seeing how their father had business to maintain along with raising his children and providing for them, the three siblings offered to help. Because of his mother's death, his younger siblings had matured way faster compared to when he was their age. Sometimes, he couldn't help but feel guilty that they couldn't enjoy the simple blissful joys of childhood like he had when their mother was around. It was his fault after all.

Thankfully, just because they grew up faster, didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy life to the fullest. They did, just not as much as he did.

He entered his room and sighed in relief before dropping his school bag on his desk. He stripped down and changed into his comfier house clothes. A plain white t-shirt and red fitting shorts. He put away his school uniform and set aside his school bag once he took out his homework and laid it on his desk. When he was done, he left his room and went back down to the front door. He put on some outdoor slippers before leaving through the front door and went around to the clinic entrance. He peeked inside through the glass and saw several unopened boxes on the ground, but no sign of his father. Quietly, he opened the door and stepped in without making too much noise.

"Dad?" He called loudly.

In response to his call, he heard something in the back followed by a hiss of pain. Concerned, the twelve year old hastily made his way to the back to check out what happened. He found his father cradling his foot while leaning back on his desk in his office. He look on his face that screamed pain. He most likely stubbed his toe. Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Son, next time warn me before you shout like a serial killer. You nearly made me cut off my poor old toe."

With a roll of his eyes, he ruffled the back of his spiky orange hair. "Do you still have those pictures of the kids who have you as their pediatrician?" he suddenly asked, ignoring his father's words.

Isshin gave his soon a confused look as he lowered his foot back down. "Where's this coming from?"

He had to choose his answer carefully.

"I'm just curious about how many kids you have listed…"

Isshin blinked and then crossed his arms. "I could tell you how many I have right now."

"… I need to see the pictures."

"Why?" he pressed.

"Because… " Ichigo rubbed his face. "Because I— AHHRGH!" Isshin smacked him upside the head, making him cry out in pain. "Stop beating around the bush and spit it out already!" he shouted.

"Damn it, you old man! You didn't have to hit me!" Ichigo bellowed back.

Isshin opened up a drawer and immediately pulled out a folder that was wrapped around by an elastic band. "What do you need it for?" He asked with a huff.

"Nothing!" Ichigo swiped it from him and walked out of the office to go put the folder on the counter in the entrance. Thankfully, his father didn't follow after him.

The boy removed the elastic and opened the folder. The first thing he saw was a file with a picture attached to it. It was a picture of a little boy named Sakurai Sora. That obviously wasn't it. He removed Sakurai's file from the pile and set it faced down on the side. He did the same thing with the other files that didn't match his description.

It was only when he reached the eleventh file that he found something that matched.

(平木 優子) Hiragi Katsuko

The name was written the same way and he could see the resemblances. Is that her…?

Next to the name was a picture of a little girl. Her black hair was tied in two pigtails with straight black bangs. She was wearing a blue sweater turtleneck. On her face, she had sort of an odd half smile. It looked like she was a little distracted as she stared at the camera with a smile with her mouth open.

A little girl with black hair held up a stick and harshly blew into the small hole. So many shiny colorful bubbles came flying out of the stick and floated away into the air.

Ichigo watched as they moved further away until they popped.

Excitedly, he turned his head to look at the girl, "My turn!" He smiled brightly before opening his hand.

With a smile, Katsuko handed him the bottle with the stick.

"That was her?" he mumbled to himself as he stared at the picture to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

It wasn't like he forgot. It was that he just remembered something he didn't really think about a lot. He knew that they weren't exactly childhood friends. She was a patient of his father's and he would often see her when she came for a check up or if she needed to see him when something was wrong. They first met at the clinic and somehow got along from there. On the rare occasions when they would be accompanying their mother into town to buy something and actually run into each other, he would play and talk with her while their mothers talked for a while. That much he remembered. However, he didn't see much of her after his mother's death. She even stopped showing up at the clinic for a check up prior to his mother's death. He didn't see much of her outside either since he rarely went with his father into town because he had to watch over his sisters. She didn't even go to the same elementary school as him.

Basically, he never saw her again until now.

"Hiragi Katsuko."

Ichigo dropped the file with a shout before glaring at his father. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Isshin completely ignored his son's shout before picking up the file. Then he gasped. He gave his son a serious look. "I know you just entered puberty… but don't tell you've already got a fetish." he said with the most serious tone.

Ichigo groaned loudly before slamming his hand on the counter. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. "Hell no! I'm not like that!" he shouted.

"Well, how was I supposed to know when my son is acting like he's hiding a guilty pleasure?! As your father, I won't—"

"AHHHGHH! SHUT UP!"

While Ichigo was busy running his fingers in his hair in frustration, Isshin found an older picture underneath Katsuko's. It was an old picture that his wife took around five or six years ago. It was a picture of Katsuko and Ichigo standing next to each other and smiling at the camera. He must have stuck it under there by accident some time ago. He briefly showed it to Ichigo who only stared at it without saying anything. Instead of putting it back, Isshin tucked the picture in his back pocket. That kind of picture should be put somewhere else.

"Why are you suddenly curious about Hiragi?"

Ichigo shrugged. He took Hiragi's file back from his dad and put it back in the order he found it in. "There's a girl named Hiragi Katsuko in my class. I thought her name was familiar so I decided to check over here." The files he piled on the side were back on the original pile. He closed the folder and wrapped the elastic around it. "Turns out that it's her."

Isshin gave his son a skeptical look, "That's it?"

"Yes!" He insisted and then grumbled when he walked off to his father's office to put the file back in the drawer. Isshin didn't follow after his son. Instead, he rubbed his chin as he thought about the young girl who he had never seen in a long while.

"I wonder why she hasn't shown up for check up in the past 5 years…" Isshin muttered to himself as he walked over to the boxes in the front.

(平木 優子) Hiragi Katsuko

Hiragi basically translates to common/unchanging tree. 'Hira' (which is often used for the word 'peace') can be translated as something that is flat, common, even, calm, etc. Something that is constant and unchanging. 'Gi' means tree.

'Katsu' has a few meanings such as good, excellent, superior, gentle. 'Ko' just means child.

Her name used to be: Shunka (Shield of Peace) Hiragi (skilled blue orchid). I created her name like that because of her character and a certain someone in the Soul Society... Her official name works fine too though. Just pointing that out there!