Chad and Ichigo sat on a bench next to each other, faces bruised and marked up from the last fight they'd gotten into. Ichigo held a tissue up to his bloody— possibly broken— nose as blood spilled out and stained the tissue.

"Chad, my head's killing me," Ichigo whined, his head dropping onto Chad's shoulder. He was way too lazy to hold it up himself.

"Mmmm. Me too," Chad said.

Ichigo closed his eyes, taking deep breaths through his mouth as it'd be hard to breathe through his nose. Chad sat in silence next to Ichigo wondering what to do. He gulped, feeling the most outwardly stressed he's ever been.

His hand that laid on the bench next to Ichigo's slowly crept over to his friend. He placed his large brown hand on top of Ichigo's smaller and paler one.

It felt like time stopped a little, then kicked into high gear when Ichigo pulled his hand away and sat up, looking Chad in the face with confusion all over his own.

"Chad?"

"Uh, sorry. Um, your nose is bleeding all over your face."

Ichigo wiped under his nose to reveal his hand covered in blood, shocking him up and off the bench. "Shit! I have to let my dad check me out, I think I'm gonna die. See you later, Chad," Ichigo exclaimed, turning tail immediately and running off in the direction of his home.

Chad watched, sighing, "Yeah. Bye, Ichigo."

Ichigo mussed up enough energy to stomp right up to Chad, as they stood near the corner of a slightly busy street.

"Chad!" Ichigo shouted despite being right in front of his friend. He looked up at Chad's face with his own face covered in a flush of red.

"Ichigo," Chad responded.

Ichigo choked, looking around before rolling his eyes into the back of his skull to get out his question. "Guh. When you came onto me-"

"I didn't come onto you. I tried to hold your hand."

"Yeah… BUT— Yeah, that was it. But still, were you… mad at me?" he sighed in relief when he got it out, his eyes unrolling.

"About what?" Chad asked, the constant flatness in his tone barely making it sound as if he asked a question.

"You know. I was like euugh!" Ichigo said, mocking his whine and imitated an exaggerated recoil, holding the "offended" hand in his other.

"Oh. No, not really."

"You weren't mad?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes really, Ichigo."

"Oh…" Ichigo scratched the hair on the nape of his neck.

"Why do you ask?"

"I felt bad afterwards. I mean, I'm pretty sure I still do. Chad, do you like me?" Ichigo said, the question slipping out so fast, he wanted to bite off his tongue after saying it.

Chad was a bit silent. Ichigo didn't look straight at him. In fact, he wasn't looking at him at all. Ichigo was standing all crooked, resting a hand on his waist for support as he looked at the ground past Chad's feet.

"Do you want to know?" Chad asked.

Ichigo looked up, then down. "I… uh, I think so?"

"Alright. Come with me first," Chad turned around and walked over to a nearby bench to sit on. Ichigo sat on it next to him, slumped down. "I do like you, Ichigo. But I know that not everyone is okay with something like this."

"No, no, it's not that," Ichigo interjected. "It's not that I'm opposed, I'm just an idiot and didn't think it'd ever happen to me."

"You're not opposed?"

"Nah," Ichigo said, shaking his head to accompany his answer.

Chad hummed silently as an alternative to saying, "Alright."

So then they sat in silence for a while, watching people pass the two on the bench.

Chad looked at Ichigo, then he looked at Chad. Chad smiled, if a slight upturn of the corner of his mouth counts as a smile. Ichigo's face burned even more red, throwing his head back and making a quiet, but all the more embarrassed scream. But then he sat back up, digging his elbow into his thigh and covering his hand with his mouth, looking away from Chad's direction.

After struggling and making quiet whimpers, Ichigo finally put his hand on Chad's.