A/N: Hello! Thanks for the reviews! If you are annoyed with Ichigo's denial and perpetual, forced ignorance, then you'll be pissed off in this chapter. You're welcome, but in all seriousness, I'm really excited where this story is headed. Anyways, keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing! (I do have tests this week and the next, so expect less updates. But I'll try my best!)

"You look…" Mizuiro tries to find a word that would describe how awful I look while still being polite; he can't.

"Like crap. Thanks for noticing," I snap. I scowl, and I mumble an apology for being so short-tempered. I shouldn't take my anger out on him. It's not his fault that I couldn't sleep.

It's her fault and mine. Hers because she wouldn't disappear from my thoughts, and mine because I didn't try hard enough. No matter what I did last night, I kept thinking about her, and when I finally managed to sleep, she haunted my dreams.

No…that's not right. They were more like nightmares.

"Is something bothering you, Ichigo?"

I look up into the sky. Why is it so bright when I feel so damn miserable? So guilty?

"No. I just didn't sleep that well." I can still feel his eyes on my face. "Take a picture. It'll last," I begin sarcastically. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture," he says. "I'm giving everyone a heads-up to not get on your bad side."

My scowl deepens, but then I realize that he's probably right to send out a text. I mean, if Keigo tried anything today, I might just hurt him. For some reason, I'm very irritated with him. "Good idea."

We are quiet after that. He knows that I don't feel like talking, so he keeps to his phone while I keep to my thoughts.

I'm not that surprised that Keigo doesn't listen to Mizuiro's warning, but I am surprised when Tatsuki trips him before he can reach me. I almost thank her, but she passes me, whispering one word. One word that clearly tells me that Inoue had told her about yesterday. It's a word I've been hearing a lot lately.

I have a protest on my lips, but Tatsuki is down the hall, and I don't want to broadcast to the whole school that I am definitely not a pervert. That would just make me seem like a pervert, so with that in mind, I go to my class and fall into my seat and lay my head on the desk. I close my eyes, completely exhausted even though the day just started.

I hear something being placed on my desk. My eyes open to see a can of coffee. I trial my eyes higher, and I sit up quickly. It's Inoue.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun," she greets quietly. "It looked like you could use something to perk you up." She smiles.

"Oh, uh, thanks." I open the can and take a sip. She seems to brighten, and I suddenly don't feel as tired or low. The coffee works fast. "I guess you had fun with Rukia last night." She must have. It's the only reason why she could look so happy.

I would have to thank Rukia next time I see her.

"Mm-hmm! It was really fun! We stayed up all night talking!"

"All night? Maybe you should be the one drinking this." I hold out the drink for her, and she stares at it. She blushes as she takes the can from my hand. She brings it closer to her face, but then she sets it down on my desk while shaking her head.

"I can't!" She covers her face with her hands and runs out of the room.

Huh? What did I say? But instead of worrying about it, I'm relieved. She greeted me. She smiled at me. The nightmares that I had last night, ones in which she would ignore that I existed or disappear without a trace were meaningless. She's here, and she's happy. That's enough for me, and I can feel all the tension in my body melt away.

Ishida is not in his seat. He couldn't be late. He is too punctual for his own good, so it must be something else that stops him from attending class. I concentrate, and I hear the roar of hollows far away. He's probably dealing with them. It's nothing he can't handle, but my muscles become taunt, ready to fight. But I can't help, so I force myself to relax back into my seat and focus on whatever Sensei is going over.

He comes in a little bit later looking unfazed from fighting, and after giving an excuse for his tardiness, he sits down. I remind myself that it's only three weeks until I can fight again. Just three more weeks, and I can relieve Ishida from his hollow extermination duties. Three weeks until I can protect the people I care about with my own hands.

Lunch rolls around, and we head up to the roof to eat. Yuzu has packed me some food, and I munch on it as I listen to Keigo ramble on about something. I look down from the railing, and I spot a group sitting underneath a tree. It's Inoue and her friends. She usually alternates between eating with us on the roof and then eating with her other friends.

I watch as Inoue sticks a little more closely to Tatsuki's side. Tatsuki seems to not mind. All she does is pet Inoue's head. Even from here, I can tell that she is trying to comfort Inoue about her leaving, and maybe Tatsuki is doing it for herself. She's obviously going to miss Inoue just as much. It must be hard for her to part from Inoue.

"Are you paying attention to me, Ichigo?"

"Nope."

Keigo stands next to me. "What are you doing, anyways?" He looks down. "Oh!" He laughs, and he gets this sleazy expression on his face. "Trying to look down the girls' shirts, huh? You na—" I punch him, effectively cutting him short. He cradles his nose and cries to Mizuiro.

I glare at him as I sit down. Now I know why I'm so pissed off at him. He is the reason why I've been thinking weird thoughts about Inoue. All of his pervertedness is rubbing off on me! It's his damn fault for my other…nightmare.

I shake my head. Was it really a nightmare? If it was about Inoue, about her closeness to me, about her touch, about her b…No, nightmare is exactly the right word. If I felt guilty about it when I woke up, it's a nightmare.

Stupid Keigo.

The day passes slowly, and I struggle with staying awake. Ishida takes too much pleasure in throwing things at me to help with keeping my eyes open. I would have to pay him back somehow.

After classes end, I head to the school gate and wait.

"Kurosaki-kun!" I turn toward her, and I see her wave. Tatsuki is by her side, and she has this creepy smile on her face as they stop in front of me.

My eyes narrow. "What?"

"Nothing." She ruffles Inoue's hair. "See you tomorrow." Inoue nods. "Take care of her," She says as she walks over to me. She lays her hand on my shoulder. "Pervert."

I can't even deny it because Inoue is right there, so I let Tatsuki go without yelling at her.

"You ready?" Inoue asks.

My eyebrows raise. "You're asking me? So you're following our agreement? I guess I win the fight."

She blushes at my teasing. "Like I could win against you, Kurosaki-kun." I laugh. "Besides…I couldn't put up a fight today because…because I want to apologize."

"For what?"

She looks everywhere but at me. "For yesterday. I really inconvenienced you with sleeping on your bed and then, you know, sleeping with…you." I fear for her health with how red her face is getting.

It's my turn to look at everything but her. "It's not your fault. You said that I trapped you, which means that I should apologize." I should also apologize to her about the thoughts and the nightmare I had last night, but I keep that to myself. It's embarrassing enough to admit it to myself. There is absolutely no possible way that I could admit it out loud, especially to her.

"You don't have to apologize! It was…" She abruptly stops to bite her lip and twirl her hair with her finger.

It was what? What is she talking about? Could she have, on some off chance, liked, in some kind of way, sleeping in my arms?

Why is my heart beating so fast?

She doesn't finish what she was going to say, and I'm a little…disappointed. "I am just sorry—"

"Don't be, Inoue." I scratch my head awkwardly. "It's not…it was..." Just breathe, I tell myself.

She laughs into her hand. "Let's just put it behind us." I nod. "Good. I was afraid things would be awkward between us and that you would ignore me or something."

So she was worried about the same things that I was worried about. Knowing how she felt, I pick my next words carefully. I try to keep them light but meaningful. Something that would reassure her that if it's my choice, I wouldn't ignore her or leave. "Don't think I'd let you off so easily, Inoue. You're stuck with me."

"Stuck?" She stops walking. I look at her, and I can see her eyes start to water.

"Inoue?"

She crouches down and covers her face.

"Inoue?" I repeat her name louder. She's not crying or anything? I didn't make her cry, did I?!

Shit! What do I do? I couldn't handle tears.

She looks up, and to my relief, she's not crying. She's just grinning. She jumps up to her feet and walks forward until she stops in front of me. She looks up at me, and I'm getting a flashback to my nightmare last night, and I can't hold back the blood that's rushing to my face. I want to step back, but if this moment is anything like the nightmare, she will follow me, and I will trip, and I'll pull her with me, and we will be on the ground, and she'll lean down, and I'll lean up, and we'll…

"I'm going to tell you something, Kurosaki-kun. Not now but soon. And I hope, no matter what, that we will still be friends."

I frown. Tell me what? What could she possibly tell me that would jeopardize our relationship? But she's waiting for my answer, so I agree without knowing what I am agreeing to.

"Promise?" She holds out her pinky, and I know what she wants: a pinky promise. And she looks so expectant that I can't say no even though it's kind of embarrassing. So I just hook my pinky around hers.

"I promise."

She squeezes her pinky around mine, and I realize that if she asked, I might just promise her anything. And she's wrong when she said she couldn't win against me. If she smiles like that, smiles like that at me, she would win. Because I would let her win. I would, without hesitation or fail, let her win each and every single time.