Title: The Summer Job

Rating: PG-13

Series: Bleach

Pairing: IchixIshi

Original title is original. -yawn- I'm so sleepeh....why am I doing this again? Oh yea, the contest. Right, I remember now. This is for a deviantART contest. The theme I chose was summer, and this is what I came up with! And yes, I did this instead of Brush Strokes. Shame on me. I have the urge to write an Ouran fic....I miss Ouran.

Enjoy.

It had been a week since summer vacation began. A week of glorious events that take place when there's no school. A week of doing absolutely, positively nothing. Ichigo was pretty okay with that, occasionally he would leave his room for food or the bathroom. Other than that, though, he did nothing. There really wasn't anything for him to do, without school he didn't really do anything else. However, on day seven(or at least, he thought it was day seven. Not leaving your room for days makes you lose track of time), his nothingness was interrupted. Isshin burst into the room, pointing at Ichigo accusingly, "Ichigo! I am tired of you sitting here like a lump! You're wasting away here!! What would Masaki think?!"

"Uhm...that she has a teenage boy who likes to sleep?" Ichigo muttered.

"NO! THAT YOU ARE LAZY! You, my son, need a job! And I have found one for you!!" Isshin declared.

"What..?" he sat up, still half asleep, "But I didn't even have an interview...?"

"They were so desperate they just hired you without even seeing you! Isn't that great?!" Somehow, Ichigo felt like that wasn't exactly what happened. He had a feeling that it was something more along the lines of Isshin annoying them so much that they caved and hired him.

"What if I don't want a job?" Ichigo said, "I'm perfectly happy doing nothing."

"Well..you could always work here with me~"

"...I'll get dressed." Even though he'd have to walk there and back, he'd rather do that then have to work for his dad all day. He would probably die from the annoying if that happened. Before he knew it, he had gotten dressed and headed out. He didn't really know much about the place, all he had been given from his father was an address. He was a little scared to find out exactly where he was working. To his relief, it was the fast food joint out near the school. he wondered why he hadn't put two and two together before. He walked in and looked around, who was he supposed to talk to? Was there a manager or something? While he didn't know exactly who he was looking for, he did see someone who he knew: Uryuu. Did he want to talk to him? Not really, but he was better than nothing. It wasn't until he got closer that he noticed that he was wearing a uniform. "Oi, Uryuu, how'd you get stuck here?" he asked him.

"If you must know, I'm not 'stuck here', I chose to work here. I'm the manager," he replied, pushing up his glasses. Even though they typically didn't hire teenagers as managers, Ichigo could see how he'd gotten the job. "Your Dad called....over....and over...and over....where's your uniform?" Uryuu continued.

"Uhm...I have a uniform?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"Of course you do, dumbass. Here, take this one and go change. Quickly, if I might add," Uryuu shoved a uniform at him.

"Uh..alright...fine..." He went into the washroom and put on the uniform. He felt stupid, not to mention the uniform was a bit snug on him. he stared at the visor in his hands, the last part. There was no way in HELL he was putting that thing on.

"Put it on."

"....Fine." Okay, so maybe it wasn't that hard to put it on. But it was this job or working for his dad, and he'd rather work for Uryuu. He found, however, that this wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. He already knew Uryuu was a perfectionist, but not only did he have to be perfect in what he did, but he had to make everyone else perfect, too.

"Smile," Uryuu demanded.

"W..What?" Ichigo looked over, "Why?"

"You need to be nice to the customers, you need to seem inviting."

"Why should I?!"

"Because I'm your manager and what I say, goes," he threatened.

"Fine, but if I have to, you do too," Ichigo crossed his arms.

"Fine," Uryuu took the register next to him. As Ichigo watched, his face turned to terror. It was the scariest thing he'd ever seen in his life, probably because Uryuu never smiled.

"Okay okay stop!!" he waved his arms around, "I get it, but if I smile I'll creep people out."

"Whatever, but you better work as efficiently as the other employees."

Ichigo shook his head, "That should be easy enough." It wasn't. As his shift dragged on, he got more and more tired. Thankfully, before it got too bad his shift was over. He looked around and found he was closing alone, and that Uryuu had already left. Or so he thought. As he headed out the back door, he could hear some people near the end of the alleyway. Suspicious, he headed down that way. He saw some of the other employees all around something, or someone. "Oi, what do you think you're doing?" Ichigo called out, he was used to dealing with these kinds of thugs so it didn't really bother him. Once he spoke, they all made a run for it. "Cowards..." he muttered, and then looked to who they were crowded around. It was Uryuu. He had somehow expected it, but not entirely. Ichigo held out a hand to him, "Here.."

Uryuu waved it off and got up slowly himself, "I don't need your help or your sympathy, thank you."

"Why didn't you fight back? I know you're capable of it..." Ichigo inquired.

"Simple, it wouldn't make me any better than them now would it?" he pointed out, and it was true.

"True....where do you live, far from here?" Ichigo asked.

"Not really, what does it matter?" he pushed up his glasses, which Ichigo noticed were now bent.

"Well, maybe I could walk your way.." Ichigo didn't know why he was saying this, it was like some sort of unknown force was taking over him. It was a force he'd never felt before, and it was bothering him that he didn't know what it could be.

"Since when do you care? I thought you hated me."

"Not hate, just don't really know," Ichigo shrugged, "Look, we could argue or we could go home. Take your pick."

Uryuu sighed in frustration, "Fine, fine. But don't expect me to talk to you."

Ichigo shrugged, "I don't really care." Uryuu nodded and started walking to his house. Once they arrived, he faced Ichigo.

"I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow?" he looked away no sooner than he looked at him.

"Yea, I'll be sure to wear my uniform this time."

"Good, I expect you to," Uryuu went and unlocked the door, opening it. He looked back at Ichigo before going in and shutting the door lightly. Ichigo stared at the door for a while before he shook his head and walked home. Something weird was going on, but he didn't know what.

The next day, Ichigo got up early for work. Well, at least for him it was pretty early and he wasn't too happy about it. However, for some reason he really wanted to get a move on and go to work. He showed up early and everything, but one thing was missing. As his shift went on, he noticed Uryuu wasn't there and he was under the direction of a different manager. This manager really didn't care about anything the staff did, it almost made him want to be under the strict direction of Uryuu again. Considering all the customers were getting mad at him instead of the kitchen staff who was goofing off, he definitely wished that he was here. Eventually he was able to escape the angry customers and dump it on some other poor soul who had to work the register. He decided, though, instead of going home that he'd go to Uryuu's house. Thing was, he was actually kind of worried. never in a million years would he admit it, but he was. It didn't matter what condition he was in. Uryuu always showed up for school, he assumed that the same would apply to his work. As he walked up to the building, he noticed that the light was on, which meant he must be home. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door. He waited, and waited, and waited. So long, in fact, eventually he went to turn back. As he did, the door opened. "What do you want, Kurosaki?" he sniffled, sounding congested.

"Are you sick?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No, my body and I are at war and it's winning. What the hell do you think?!" he rolled his eyes, "Now, I'll ask again, what do you want?"

"I was concerned....is that a crime?"

"Yes, why are you concerned with me?"

"I dunno, I'm just trying to be nice."

"You? Nice?" Uryuu scoffed, "Right, okay."

"What? It's true. I'm human, I can do whatever I want if I try," he defended himself.

"Sure, whatever. Well, I'm alive, you can leave now," he went to close the door, but Ichigo was persistent and stopped him.

"Wait..can I come in?" he asked.

Uryuu looked skeptical, "What? And catch what I have? Fine, I don't care." He stepped aside and let Ichigo in. As soon as he came in, he could feel how hot it was in there. It felt like a sauna, even hotter than it was outside.

"Wow, it's hot in here..." he looked around, "Don't you have air conditioning?"

"Thank you captain obvious. And no, I don't. Can't afford it," he walked away from him.

"What? What do you mean you can't afford it? Are you saying you live alone?" Ichigo closed the door and stared at Uryuu's back as he stopped. There as a silence as he didn't answer. "You do..don't you?" Ichigo finally said.

"Fine, I do. What's it to you?"

"Nothing, nothing..I'm not going to push it..." he put his hands up, "Now sit."

"Why? I'm not a dog," Uryuu finally turned around, arms crossed.

"Uh, because you're sick?" he pointed out.

"Yea, but I have stuff to do..." he started to list off the million things he had to do that day. Ichigo moved closer...and closer..and closer...the force that had drawn him to Uryuu before was kicking in again. Suddenly, he was right infront of his face. Uryuu jumped when he noticed this, "When did you get there?!"

"You're sick. Rest," he ordered, and reluctantly Uryuu did so. After that, he smirked at Ichigo. "What? Why are you making that face at me?" he frowned.

"Never thought you cared so much before, Kurosaki."

"You're stubborn, so am I. I wasn't going to lose," he looked away.

"Suuure, whatever you say," he continued to smirk and looked in the direction Ichigo was looking. It seemed that Uryuu was onto him, damn that unknown force drawing him to a smart person. "You want something from me, though, don't you?" he looked back over to Ichigo, and Ichigo turned to face him.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's what everyone does, they always want something from me. 'Uryuu, do my homework', 'Uryuu, take my shift', 'Uryuu, I need money', etcetera, etcetera, etcetera," he explained, "So, what do you want from me?"

"Would you believe nothing?"

"No."

"Well it's true, do you want me to lie to you?"

"No, but it just doesn't sound like you."

"Didn't we already go through this?" he rolled his eyes, "Look, if you want the truth, I don't...I don't know why I'm here."

"What? Are you coming out of a high or something?" he looked more concerned than upset.

"No no not like that, it's just..something drew me here. It was like I was in some sort of trance, something just...came over me."

"I know what it was, but you won't believe me if I told you...." Uryuu looked into his lap, and now it was Ichigo's turn to be concerned.

"What is it? I honestly have no idea, so your guess is as good as mine," he shrugged.

"It's....love...."

"W-What?! Are you saying I'm in love with you?!" Ichigo started to back away.

"Hey hey! It's not like that!" Uryuu yelled back, "You asked, I answered. That's exactly what it sounds like to me. God knows why you'd pick me of all people, but that's just me guess."

"...There are a lot of reasons why I'd pick you.." Ichigo eased up, "That..uh..is uh..saying I did."

"Oh? Tell me one, I doubt you'd find one," he pushed up his glasses.

"Well...you're smart. And..uhm...you're confident...you do what you want to do and you don't care what anyone else thinks. You're strong, too. You can fight longer than most of us can," he listed off some points. He found that the more he listed them off, the easier it was to come up with them.

"Heh, don't lie to me. besides, I could say the exact same thing about you."

"I'm not lying! Why would you think I'm lying?!" Ichigo felt offended that he'd accuse him of that.

"Simple: Why hasn't anyone else said that before? If you haven't noticed, before I met you I had no friends. I was alone, still am for the most part. if those things were true, why is that so?" he pointed out.

"That's exactly it," Ichigo said simply.

"I..don't follow you.." Uryuu replied, a confused expression on his face.

"It's simple, if you don't believe those things about yourself how is anyone else going to? Wow..I sound like I'm some sort of cheesy motivational speaker..."

"...Get out."

"W..What?!" this caught Ichigo off guard. They were having a great conversation before, and all of a sudden Uryuu was demanding he leave.

"You heard me, get out. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Fine Miss Moody, I'll go...see you at work tomorrow," he left. Once Ichigo had left. Uryuu looked down. What the hell was wrong with him? There went his one chance at what he'd always wanted, someone who actually loved him, and he just watched him walk out the door.

"Damn it Uryuu...you're an idiot.." he muttered and walked to the bedroom, thinking maybe some sleep would get his mind off things. That would be a good idea, if he could sleep. He ended up staying up the entire night, his mind too filled with thoughts to sleep.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was thinking very similar thoughts. Was Uryuu right? Was he in love with him? And if so, how did he just fall in love all of a sudden? People didn't just fall in love at first sight, did they? Besides, he saw Uryuu all the time, why now? Ichigo was just so confused, so he decided to punch a wall. Not the best idea, he stared at his bleeding hand. "Damn it Ichigo..you're an idiot," he kicked a rock and continued to head home, not looking forward to work the next day. However, it was different. He and Uryuu never spoke. Uryuu didn't even make him fix his mistakes, or harass him to smile. They would exchange the occasional awkward glance, but then they would quickly look away as if it had never happened. A few weeks passed, and Ichigo had already had enough. He wasn't going to just waste away his summer and not find an end to this. He plotted out the perfect way to do it, too. He went over to the supply closet and sort of stood around. That is, until Uryuu walked by. Once he got close enough, he shoved him into the closet and followed him in, closing the door behind him.

"What the hell?!" Uryuu tried to get out, but the closet was way too small for him to move well enough to get Ichigo to move from in front of the door, "Let me out!!!"

"No, I've had enough."

"Enough of what?! Going our separate ways?!" he put his arms in the air.

"If you call awkward tension going our separate ways, you're right."

"What do you want with me?" Uryuu sighed, giving up.

"Look, I don't know what you did to me this summer, but since I started working here I couldn't take my mind off you. I think you were right."

"Oh, what's this? You admit I was right?"

"Hey hey hey, now's not the time for that. Point is I wanted to talk to you and I knew I couldn't do it unless I talked to you face to face, so I had to force you," Ichigo continued.

"This still sounds really weird coming from you, I don't care how many times I say it..why should I believe you?"

"Dad always said that love changed people, makes the different from how they usually are. Makes them act in all different kinds of ways, I guess what you consider weird is how I've been changed," he shrugged, "Honestly, I don't really care. I don't see myself as any differently and if everyone else thinks I've changed, so be it. I only care what you think."

"Well, weirdness aside..I'm relieved."

"W..What..?" Ichigo was confused.

"The reason I knew what you were feeling was because I felt it. It was when I found out you were a soul reaper. Maybe deep down I'm a sucker for the whole forbidden love thing, but regardless it took my off guard too. Maybe it was more lust than love, but maybe I'd want it to become love."

"You think so, huh? I think I agree..." he leaned him and kissed him. Once he pulled away, he sighed, "Well that was...awkward."

"That it was, but I guess over time it would get better....can we get out of the closet now?"

"What?! Why would I do that so soon?!" Ichigo panicked.

"No..literally out of the closet, it's getting really hot in here and I'm getting stiff."

"Oh...right....sorry. I'm still getting used to this."

~THE END~