A/N: I grew tired of studying, so I goofed off for a bit and voila! I've completed this chapter! Me:0 Procrastination: ∞ If you are all wondering why the pace is so slow, it will eventually pick up, but when it does, it'll mean that the end is in sight, so…let's savor these slice of life chapters. (I realize that this chapter could have totally been tacked on to chapter 12, but oh well! Too late now!) If all goes as planned, the next chapter will be one of my favorites! Anyways, keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing!

I grab my head as question upon question flow over each other in a perpetual loop. I couldn't even begin to answer them as another question would push to the forefront of my mind. I couldn't grasp anything, and I can feel pain starting to build behind my closed eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?"

I turn my head a little, so I can pry one eye open to look across from me. Some guy is sitting down and glaring at me. I close my eye, deciding to ignore him as best as I can. I couldn't deal with another headache.

"I said, 'Who the fuck are you?!'" The guy repeats a little bit louder. He jostles the table, and I glance down. He has ruined Inoue's creation.

I'm pissed.

I glare at him. "None of your business."

He scoffs. "What are you to Inoue-chan? Why is she catering to you? She never makes anything for anyone."

I can feel my lip twitch. Why do I feel like smiling at his words? He makes it sound like I'm special to Inoue.

Again, I ignore him.

He stands up, and I think maybe's he given up, but all he does it reach over and grab me by my shirt, pulling me up. I let him do this because I couldn't fight in here. It would reflect poorly on Inoue. No. If I want to fight this guy, which, if I'm being honest, I do, I would have to somehow get him outside before any fists were thrown.

"You better stay away from her," he threatens as his face nears mine.

My body tenses. He is acting like he has some kind of claim on her. Like he owns her, but no one, no one, owns her.

"You better get your fucking hand off me before you lose it," I warn him. In response, his grip tightens on me.

"Heh. Heh. Is everything alright?" I look to my left. Inoue is rubbing her head with one hand, and her smile is strained. Everyone in the bakery is silent. "Customer-san, would you mind letting go of Kurosaki-kun's shirt?" He doesn't release me. In fact, it seems like he's even angrier now that Inoue is here.

Her smile disappears, and she becomes serious.

"I think the lady asked you to let her friend go." A man stands behind Inoue. He has this lazy smile on his face, but his eyes…they reflect something menacing. The guy probably senses it too because his hold lessens until he finally removes his hand from me altogether. I straighten myself. "We don't want any trouble, so if you could please leave on your own, that would be great." The guy clearly doesn't want to go. I can tell that he wants to finish what he's started, but he decides it's best not to push his luck. He exits the store in a huff.

"You're not too shaken up, Orihime-san?" My head jerks up at that, and my jaw locks as I see his hand on her shoulder.

She turns slightly to him while she shakes her head in a frantic manner. "No! I'm fine." He smiles down on her, and his fingers curl in as he squeezes her shoulder. It's supposed to be comforting, but all it does is make me strangely uncomfortable.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to head back. Next time, call me before trying to handle it yourself."

"Hai! Thank you, Kansuke-kun!" He pats her head, and he starts to walk away, but as he does, he looks at me briefly. And he smugly grins at me before he goes back behind those closed doors.

How does he do it? How am I more infuriated now than I was with that other guy?

"What happened, Kurosaki-kun?" My eyes find hers, and they shine in worry.

I sigh, and I make myself calm down. "Nothing. He thought I was someone else."

She gazes down at her feet, and I feel guilty. I don't like to lie her, and I especially don't like how she knows when I'm lying. It makes me feel even worse.

She nods, and she gives me that forced smile of hers, and the guilt increases. We are silent, and it borders on the line of awkward before she speaks again. "I have to get back to work."

I sit back down as she scurries off.

He's the baker. She's mentioned him before. He is the one who teaches her sometimes, and from the way he addresses her by her first name, they are familiar with each other. Friendly. Because he would've been calling her by her family name since he is not that older than Inoue and I. He looks like he is in his mid-twenties. No, they are close.

She's watching me. I can feel her eyes on me, so I eat the cake she brought for me. It's good. Really rich and savory. But then I think about who made it, and the taste transforms from sweet to…bitter. I grab the coffee and take a sip, trying to cleanse my palate. It's a shame that the guy messed up Inoue's design before I could really examine it. Before I can really take in the fact that she made it specifically for me and only me.

I know I am supposed to go to my own part-time job. I've been doing really well at going every day because it gave me the perfect excuse to walk Inoue to and from work. She didn't have to fret about putting me out because we were going to same way. She accepted it without protest.

I should go to avoid an earful from Ikumi, but I remain seated.

I remember that Inoue had dismissed the idea of the man being the one that she liked. She had denied it when Yuzu asked but that does nothing to squash whatever I'm feeling.

So he is not the one that she likes, but…but the man is not terrible looking. He seems nice enough. It's obvious he's fond of her. Although, I didn't know who wouldn't be fond of Inoue. He's tall, talented, and close. He's close to her. And it's different in the way I'm close to her. Different from Chad and Ishida, too. I don't know how it's different, but it is. I can feel that.

So he is not the one that she likes, but it easily could be.

There are parts of her that I don't know. That I haven't tried to know before, and I don't know why that bothers me. It never did, but now it does. I don't know what's change in me, but change it did. And now I regret it. I regret not discovering more about what she likes and what she doesn't. I really don't know who she knows except for the people we mutually hang with, and because of that, I really have no idea who she could possibly like. That's a part of her that I really don't want to know.

But I know I can no longer play naïve. I know why she made me promise her that we would still be friends. I know what she wants to tell me. She's going to tell me who she likes. I don't know why that would threaten our friendship, but it does. She knows it, too, which is why she made me promise in the first place.

The second she tells me his name, everything will change. I'm not stupid. I know that. I won't be walking her anymore. He'll be taking my spot. She won't be joining us on the roof anymore. She'll be with him. She won't greet me the same. She'll save it for him. She won't need my protection. He'll protect her.

I don't like lying to her. I hate it. I really do, but…the second she tells me his name, it'll be the moment I break my promise to her.