A/N: So tired~ I'm not even going to proofread this because I have an 8am class so…Start of a new month means new chapter! Yay! I love all the reviews I get! I'm one happy writer! I think next chapter or the following one will be…well it'll be something to remember (trying to be vague and not spoil anything). Anyways, please keep reading, enjoying, and reviewing.

No one moves. No one speaks. I don't even think anyone breathes. It's only when she reacts that everyone is set into motion.

With her head down, she whispers, "We…we will be late." She clutches her things to her chest and sprints away from us as her hair cloaks her face from our eyes.

As if we need to see her expression to know what we would see.

No one runs after her, and my eyes shoot toward Tatsuki. "What the hell are you waiting for?!" My tone is harsh, and I know that it shouldn't be. I shouldn't be this angry, but I am. I should be understanding that we all must live our lives as we see fit, but I'm not. I'm irrational, and it keeps building as Tatsuki scowls and shifts her eyes away from me.

"She has to get used to it."

Used to it? Used to what? Used to the idea that Tatsuki won't be there to comfort her anymore? Used to the idea that people will leave her? Used to the idea of being…alone?

Fuck that.

I try to go after her, but a hand wraps around my wrist. I look up at Chad. He shakes his head at me, and I feel like he is trying to stop me from running to Inoue by the gesture, or maybe he is trying to silently communicate with me. But I don't want to interpret his nonverbal message or be deterred from going to her.

I fling my arm down, breaking contact between the two of us and continue on my way.

I find her too easily. Her reiatsu has become so familiar, so recognizable to me that no matter the distance, it feels like she's next to me. Like I can just reach out for her and I would be able to grab her. And really, that is all I want to do as I see her at her desk, staring blankly out the window. I want to just cross the space between us and comfort her because she's not crying. She's holding it in. She's putting up a wall, hiding behind a brave face, and pretending that everything is okay.

But it's not because she becomes dull. When she's happy, she is a force to be reckoned with. So overpowering that it's a struggle not to join her happiness in some kind of way. And now, she is an entirely different force. It's still powerful. I can feel it from here as I stand in the doorway to her classroom. I can feel the subdued, melancholic feelings rolling off her and affecting everything and everybody. It's like everything has darken. Like everybody knows something isn't right and have adjusted themselves accordingly to the somber mood.

"Inoue…" I mummer under my breath as I step towards her, my foot passing the threshold.

A hand grips my shoulder and pulls me back. I look over my shoulder.

"She needs time." Chad says.

"Why…Why are you guys acting like this is normal?!" I yell at him in a low voice, trying not to draw attention to us. "Look at her! She doesn't need time! She needs—" I stop myself short, unable to really pinpoint how I should end my own sentence.

I can feel his eyes burning into me behind his hair. He then nods like he just realized something. "I understand how you feel Ichigo, but you…we can't do anything. We just have to let her be sad."

"But…" My protest is met with resounding silence that tells me that I shouldn't even try to argue with him. My hands curl up at my sides in agitation.

At that moment, their sensei instructs Chad to take his seat and for me to go back to my class. I take one lingering glance at Inoue who seems so small and shrunken in her seat before I step back to allow Chad to enter the room.

"I'll walk Inoue to her work and home today," he announces with his back to me. I scowl, already taking a dislike to his proposal, but it's not a suggestion. It's a statement, and it feels like a statement, too, when he slides the door shut.

I can't barge in, so I go to my own classroom. Ishida doesn't look up from his notes, and I wonder if he is as affected as Inoue is. I should feel just as worried and concerned about him if that were the case, but all of my thoughts are on her. Focused on her to the point that before I know it, class ends.

I stand up and exit the room. By now, I would've been close to the school gates to wait for Inoue, but my post has been forcefully taken by Chad, so I sluggishly walk to the entrance to retrieve my shoes. As I do so, something compels me to look out the window.

I see Inoue walking out of the school with slumped shoulders. She's staring at her feet as she walks. I pause and watch as she briefly glances up, and she looks at the gate. Her head moves to side to side, and I can't stop the gasp that escapes my lips.

She's looking for me. She's questioning to herself about where I am, and with no answers, her head snaps down, and she speeds up.

Did Chad not tell her about the changed plans? It's obvious that he didn't, and now she's going to think…she's going to assume that I abandoned her too.

My heart beats uncomfortably at that.

I'm about to pull the window open, so I can call her name, but I see her stop suddenly. She is stiff, and I look behind her to see Chad. She doesn't turn around to greet him. In fact, she steps forward like she is going to pretend that he is not there, but she can't ignore him when he catches up to her with his long strides.

They are next to each other when I see her head shake. I don't what is being said or what is happening, but I see Chad reach out and place a hand on her head. From here, I can see her looking at him for a second until her hand reaches for her face. It looks like she wiping her cheeks, and with a sickening feeling, I realize that she is crying.

I place my hand against the glass. I feel the strangest ache to make contact with her. In some kind of way, some kind of fashion, brief or lingering, the need is there. And the strangeness of it all increases as Chad gathers her in a hug.

It seems so easy for him to embrace her. Why does it seem so effortless for him? Is it an indication of the closeness of their relationship? What does that say about the relationship between Inoue and I? Hugging her like that…it seems like it would be difficult for me. Foreign and abnormal but not necessarily bad. Just different.

They finally part, and they stand still for a minute before walking out of my sight. Out of sight but not of my mind because I keep thinking about her tears and their hug and what it all means.

Bothered, I opt out of working and head home. On my way, I have to consistently direct myself that I should not go to the bakery. I have no reason to, and it would seem weird if I showed up, but it's a real battle between staying away and staying close.

When I arrive home, it's Yuzu who greets me instead of a flying kick. She tells me that dad is in the clinic taking care of some patients with Karin. I go to lend a hand, and it helps pass the time until dinner, and when dinner is done, I go up to my room to study and that passes the time too.

I'm in the middle of solving a derivative problem when I feel my phone vibrate. With a pen in my mouth, I answer the call without taking my eyes off my worksheet.

"What?" I mumble around my pen.

I hear a soft laugh over the phone, and my pen drops from my mouth as I sit up from my slouched position. "Inoue?"

A hum is her answer.

"I…I didn't check to see who was calling," I explain my rude behavior embarrassingly. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She quietly laughs again.

"Why are you whispering?" I ask with a whisper of my own.

"Oh…no reason."

"Inoue," I press again.

"Alright," she relents. "Well, you know when someone chokes you and then you finally pry their fingers off you and your throat is very sore and it hurts to breathe or use your voice?"

I jump up from my seat. "Choke? Who choked you?!" So much for whispering.

"…Maybe I should have phrased that better." She goes silent.

"Inoue!"

"I meant to say that my throat feels like that," she rushes out. My foot taps in impatience. "Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun. No one choked me. Except for tears but that's different."

I collapse into my chair. "Don't do that, Inoue! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She giggles. "Don't laugh, either!" She stops for a second and then laughs. "Inoue!" I state a bit more firmly.

"I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun." She doesn't sound apologetic with her hushed laughter. "It's just…I'm so happy that you are scolding me."

"Happy? About being scolded?" I question in disbelief.

"Yup."

I let out a mixture of a sigh and a chuckle.

"More than that though, I'm relieved that you sound like yourself," she continues. "I was worried that…well, I was just worried about you."

"You don't have to..." I start to say, but I'm reminded of my resolution from two days ago. We have to share our pain, and I guess I should start by sharing mine. "I'm okay. But you could say that I'm not handling Chad's news in the best way."

My words are honest, and it feels jarring to make myself vulnerable, but this needs to be done. I need to be able to express my hurt to her if I want her reciprocation.

"I don't think that there is a right way to handle it," she responds. "At least you didn't get snot on his t-shirt."

"I'd think he would prefer snot to a silent treatment."

"He understands that you need time to process everything, Kurosaki-kun. He holds no anger or harbor any hurt feelings about your actions," she explains. I guess they've been talking about me. I should be annoyed at that, but it sort of comforts me.

"I wish I could say the same. It's hard not to feel…"

"Betrayed? Hurt? Wronged?"

My eyes rise in surprise. "Yeah."

"When Tatsuki-chan told me that she would be leaving, I felt the same, and then I felt guilty for feeling like that, but then I decided that it was okay to let myself feel angry and sad. I think that after all we've been through with Tatsuki-chan and Sado-kun, we are allowed to feel how we feel! We owe it to ourselves!" Her voice cracks as it rises from a whisper to its normal state. "Also, wouldn't it be weird if we were just happy about them leaving? I mean, we are only human…well, okay, I'm not exactly a normal human, and you are part Shinigami and whatnot, so I guess we are not exactly human, but we are pretty close if you think about it in the grander scheme of things…"

This time I laugh. "You're right about you not being normal." I can hear her pout over the phone. "But I don't think any of us would be here if you were normal so thanks for being…"

"Not normal," she finishes with humor laced in her strained voice. "You're welcome." I laugh at that. "You know, it feels kind of silly to be worrying about such mundane things given what we have faced, but at the same time, it feels kind of good to experience something so ordinary, so universal. Does that make sense?"

"Not at all," I quickly answer. "It makes a little, and I mean a little, bit of sense," I clarify.

"Score one for Orihime!" She and I chuckle softly until I stop.

"Do you still feel…?"

She understands my unfinished question. "I do."

"Then how can you smile?" I ask in wonder.

"One of my biggest regret was…was sending my brother off without a smile." She breathes in deeply. "Even though I was scared when he came back as a hollow, it gave me a chance to right that wrong. I got to say goodbye, and although it hurt, I got to smile while saying it. I'm determined to send Tatsuki-chan and Sado-kun off with a smile. It's the least I can do for them."

It takes me a moment to soak in all that she has said. "I don't think I've ever told you this, but you are one of the strongest people I have ever met." She stutters out a protest. "I'm serious."

"Wow. Two compliments," she comments. "And before you ask, I'm counting the 'not normal' as a compliment."

"As you should," I reply gravely, and she breaks out in loud laughter. I smile. "I guess I worried over you for nothing."

"You were worried about me?" Her voice squeaks.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm sorry for—"

I cut her off. "Don't apologize. If we weren't worried about each other then we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place. Or any conversation for that matter."

"You're right! Worrying is only natural!" There is too much enthusiasm in her voice.

"Okay, now I'm kind of worried about how excited you are about it. Don't go out of your way to make me worry."

"Yes, sir, Kurosaki-kun! I wouldn't dare!" That brings me no comfort. "Then I should probably tell you that I won't be in school for the rest of the week so you don't worry about where I am."

There is an instant regret for not visiting her at her work earlier. "Why? Where are you going?"

"There is an opening to go a day earlier for the tour of Tatsuki-chan's college, and we couldn't pass it up even though it's spur of the moment."

"Oh." My face scrunches up. "Wait. Were you going to go without telling me?"

"Huh? No! Well, maybe? Sado-kun's supposed to tell you tomorrow, so you wouldn't wait for me afterschool."

"I'm glad you're telling me now."

"You're more of a worry-wart than I thought, Kurosaki-kun," she teases.

"I'm not!" I blush. "But, you know, stay close to Tatsuki, will ya?"

"I'll protect her with my life!"

I bump my head against the desk as she misunderstands that it is she who is the source of my worries, but I don't correct her. Even if I did, she would probably say the same thing. Even if I did, it wouldn't change anything. I would still be here worrying about her.

So I leave the misunderstanding as it is as I close my math book and lay on my bed. My eyes flutter down as I listen to her voice, which despite its stuffiness, is still somehow soothing. She talks about what she and Tatsuki will do over there, and I offer suggestions of my own or opinions about hers.

When we finally hang up, I feel better. I feel like I have some certainty, some clarity, some confidence to face tomorrow and the days that will follow, and it's because of the girl who I thought would crack, the girl who I thought would fall into pieces, the girl who is slowly, surely, and stubbornly piecing me back together, healing me like always.