Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way, shape, or form.

Chrysanthemums – Truth and Innocence

Another day at the Urahara Shop. Jinta sighed moodily as he stared at the window, bored out of his mind. He was under strict instructions not to leave the shop, but he was so jittery. It seemed like everything was setting him on edge today. Not even teasing Ururu helped to stem his boredom like it usually did.

He looked around the shop, trying to find something to do. Of course, there was hardly anything for him to work on to take his mind off of his confinement. Ururu had already cleaned everything until it shimmered. Tessai was behind the counter, apparently asleep. Jinta stalked out of the store to go out front, where Ururu was busy sweeping.

"Hello, Jinta-kun. Is something wrong?" Ururu asked, her eyes as sorrowful as ever.

"Yes, something's wrong, dammit! I can't go anywhere until Urahara-sama gets back from wherever he is!" Jinta complained, kicking a soda can across the yard to crash with a loud bang into the wall of the shop next door.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jinta-kun." Ururu replied, going back to sweeping.

This just pissed off Jinta even more. "Show some sympathy, baka! Don't just go around cleaning and looking sad like that!" He shouted at her.

"I'm sorry." Ururu said again. Jinta felt an angry pulse throb in his forehead. Without even thinking, he began pulling Ururu's bangs.

"Why do you wear your hair like this, anyway? You look like you have antennae!"

"Owowowow, Jinta-kun, stop, that hurts!" Ururu cried, tears forming in her already mournful eyes.

Jinta instantly felt regret. With a huff, he let go and turned away, stalking away from the shop.

"Ah, Jinta-kun, stop, Urahara-sama said not to leave the store!" Ururu cried from behind him. Jinta began to run.

It felt so good to run. After being cooped up in that stuffy old store all day, he had way too much energy. He pushed himself, faster and faster, until he couldn't even feel the ground anymore. He flew across the concrete, his breath beginning to come out in gasps. He didn't care though. He needed to get away, far away, as far as his legs could take him.

It was then that several things hit Jinta at once. One, he couldn't stop. And two, there was someone up ahead, and it was starting to look like they weren't going to get out of the way in time…

"LOOK OUT!!!" Jinta shouted, but it was too late. Just as the figure turned to see who had shouted, Jinta plowed into them, sending their grocery bags scattering all over the sidewalk.

"Ow…" Jinta muttered under his breath, rubbing his head where it had hit the concrete.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have been paying more attention!" A familiar voice apologized. "Are you alright?"

Slowly, as if he was under water instead of in Kakura Town, Jinta looked up to meet the brown eyes of Yuzu Kurosaki.

The Goddess! He thought with a blush. Feeling his face heat up, Jinta instantly turned away from her, hiding his face from her view.

"Tch, I'm fine. More importantly, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Do you hurt anywhere? I can take you to the clinic if you're in pain." Yuzu offered, leaning in to look at his face. "Wow, you look like you're burning up! And your breathing really hard, are you sure your not hurt?"

"I said I'm fine!" Jinta shouted, his voice taking on a hard edge. Why is my face so red?!

"Okay, if you insist…" The girl mumbled, the worried expression still on her face.

Looking around, Jinta realized her groceries were still on the ground. Hopping to his feet, he quickly picked them up for her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have done that myself! Thank you so much!" Yuzu told him, smiling at him gently. Jinta's face burned fiercly, so he once again turned away in embarrassment.

"N-No problem. I'll see you around!" Jinta called over his shoulder as he started to run again, this time away from Yuzu.

Gah, why did the Goddess to see me when I was acting like such a moron! Urahara-sama was right, I shouldn't have left the- Suddenly, a wave of strong spirit pressure pressed down on Jinta, causing him to collapse to his knees for a moment.

Where did that come from? He wondered as he felt it slowly decapitate. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling it was something bad…

A scream met his ears, causing Jinta to realize just what was going on. The Goddess was being attacked by a Hollow!

Shit! He thought, dashing back to where he had left Yuzu. Turning the corner, he found an imposing Adjuchas-class Menos clutching the girl in its clawed hand, leering at his prey with sickening glee.

"Hey you, let go of her!" Jinta shouted, taking out his over-sized iron rod. The Adjuchas turned and stared at him for a moment before attacking with its other hand, its claws whistling through the air as it missed Jinta by inches.

He took a running leap and managed to cut off the arm holding Yuzu. Catching her before she could even touch the ground, Jinta ran with Yuzu away from the Adjuchas, his only thought to get her away from danger.

"What was that?!" Yuzu cried, turning back to watch the Menos as it howled over its lost arm.

"A Hollow! We have to get back to the shop, and fast!" Jinta shouted, forcing himself to run even faster. He could feel the spiritual pressure of the Menos fast approaching, seeking revenge. If he could just get Yuzu back to the shop before it caught up to them, Ururu and Tessai could help defeat the Adjuchas-class Menos.

Just then, a Cero flew at them, causing the ground below Jinta to buck and jump, throwing him and Yuzu through the air. Pain shot up Jinta's arm. Looking down, he realized with a shock of horror that the arm he used to smash heads was broken.

"N-no way…" He muttered, as the pain intensified. Swallowing the desire to throw up, Jinta got up on unsteady legs as his world turned upside down. Shaking it clear again, he scanned the area for Yuzu. He finally spotted her lying about twelve feet away, looking relatively alright other than being attacked by a Cero. Still, his heart nearly stopped when he realized she wasn't moving. He made his way over to her as quickly as his spinning head would let him.

"Yuzu, hey, Yuzu! Are you okay?? Please, answer me!" He called to her, finally reaching Yuzu's side. She coughed and sat up, looking up at Jinta with a reassuring smile. However, the smile quickly turned to a look of horror when she spotted something over his shoulder.

"Look out!" She shouted, pointing. Jinta knew what it was without even looking; the Menos was now fast approaching, roaring in fury over its lost arm. And it wanted revenge.

Wincing slightly, Jinta prepared himself for the fight to come. True, his arm may be broken, but he had to protect the Goddess no matter what. He'd just have to fight with his other arm, though it wasn't nearly as strong.

"Yuzu, when I have his complete attention, I want you to run. Run straight to the Urahara Shop and tell Tessai-san what happened, he'll know what to do." Jinta instructed the scared girl. She merely shook her head, tears now welling up in her eyes. Damn, that's two times today I've made a girl cry!

"No way, Jinta-kun! I can't just leave you here!" The tears now over flowed down her face.

"Look, you'll be safe, and I'll be fine! The sooner you can get Tessai-san over here, the sooner I can come back to you!" Jinta explained, eyeing the Menos as it knocked over a telephone pole with its tail.

"B-But…" Yuzu hiccupped, her face anxious with concern for him. Any other day, it'd had made him glow with joy. Today, however, it made him seriously worry about whether he'll even get to live another day to see her face again.

Don't think like that! You will live! If not… He chanced a glance back at the crying girl before reverting his attention back to the Menos. I will survive.

"Get ready to run as fast as you can, Yuzu!" Jinta told her, shifting into a fighting position, iron rod ready to kick butt.

"Jinta-kun…" She whispered.

The Menos was upon them once again. Raising its claws, it began to swing downward straight for Jinta.

"RUN, YUZU!!" He shouted at the top of his voice as he braced for the attack he was sure was going to end his life. He closed his eyes and waited for it, begging for it to be quick and painless…

And he kept waiting. And waiting. Finally, he peeked up to see what was taking the Menos so long only to find that it was gone. In its place stood the one and only Mr. Hat 'n' Clogs himself, Kisuke Urahara.

"Urahara-sama." Jinta breathed, relief flooding his body, his broken arm temporarily forgotten. Urahara turned to give the boy an appraising look before smiling his Cheshire Cat grin and waving is fan in front of his face.

"Jinta-kun, Jinta-kun, whenever are you going to learn that you need to listen to me! You better let Yuzu-chan take you to the clinic to have that arm fixed up, on the double!" Urahara called over his shoulder as he began to walk away gallantly. Jinta felt a pulse threaten to give out.

"That man…" He muttered under his breath. Looking up, he caught Yuzu's eye and blushed. His arm throbbed painfully; he had to fight to keep from wincing. "So, uh, wanna go then?"

"Yes, we should get you there as soon as possible! Thankfully it looks like it didn't break skin." Yuzu told him, her face still a little pale.

At least she's safe. Jinta thought to himself, following behind Yuzu and looking up at the clear blue sky, basking in the sun's rays. And that's all that matters…

The Meaning of Chrysanthemums – the pure, honest love between children.

My latest brainchild. This one is based around the flowers of the 13 Divisions. Each chapter will be based around the meaning of a flower of the Gotei 13, with a pairing from Bleach being used to depict the meaning of said flower.

So, first chapter was Jinta and Yuzu. This pairing is so overlooked compared to the more popular couples! I hope I did okay on it, at least!

Tell me what you think! Good idea, bad idea, thoughts, criticism, opinions, etc. I already have an idea of what each pairing is going to be for each flower, but I want to hear your ideas too. Just please don't suggest yuri or yaoi… I'm not a homophobe but I'm defiantly not comfortable writing such things.

To my readers: I know, I lied. I said Sunday and I'm posting it Saturday. I'm sorry!

In any case, thank you for reading! Please review! Until next chapter! Bye! :3