Him and Her

Author: foxmagic07

Rating: PG-13 for total (PG for this chapter).

Warnings: IchigoxRukia all the way! (Other chapters may contain other pairings. Depends on how I feel.) Occasional bursts of insanity spread throughout.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters contained within the story.

Summary: There are some people you can't help but care about. People who you share special memories with and who make you laugh.

And then there are those people you just want to strangle…

--

Yo there, peeps. I'm back with my second Bleach fic. This whole "story" is going to be a little collection of several One-shots and Two-parters.

This first story is a Two-parter and is set before the soul-society arc. Enjoy.

Story One: His pain and her embarrassment -Part One-

"Goodbye, Kurosaki-kun!"

"……"

"…eh, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime poked Ichigo as he slept soundly at his desk. "Class is over. You can go home now."

He lifted his head and yawned. "…uh?"

"Don't bother, Orihime. He's been sleeping in class everyday this week. It's his own fault." Tatsuki butted in.

"Oh…okay…"

Ichigo watched lazily as the two girls made their way out of the classroom.

Damn. He thought. I fell asleep again. This shinigami business is really taking a toll on me.

He recalled last night and how they had fought 3 Hollows in 2 hours. It was anyone's guess how he managed to get 1 hour of sleep squeezed in.

Packing up his things, the orange-haired Death God headed home. At least tomorrow was the weekend. He could sleep in for a change. That is…unless another Hollow showed up.

He growled at the idea. Why did I ever agree to this?

--

Things were unusually quiet, Tatsuki noted. Orihime never hesitated to strike up a conversation. It was puzzling as to why she hadn't uttered a thing since they left school.

"Orihime, something the matter?"

The girl turned to face her friend. "Do you think…that Kurosaki-kun has been acting weird lately? His face is always in a scowl…like this." She did her best Ichigo impersonation.

Tatsuki cocked her head and tried not to laugh at how funny she looked. "He's always like that. I'd be worried if he wasn't scowling."

"No no." She persisted. "It's more than usual. Something's bothering him."

Then all of a sudden, Orihime's face lit up. She began to giggle, a sure sign of trouble.

"What are you thinking about…? It better not involve us doing anything embarrassing."

Without hesitation, she proceeded to explain.

--

"Oi, Rukia! Where are you?" Ichigo said as he walked into his room.

All was silent. No noise came from the closet and there wasn't any evidence to prove that she had been there. Shrugging, he simply threw his bag across the room and went to lie down. The conclusion was drawn that she must be at the sandal-hat guy's shop.

'crunch'

Body tensing at the sound of something breaking in two, the boy closed his eyes. He hoped upon desperate hope that it wasn't what he thought it was. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his foot.

Man did his luck suck.

There, broken down the middle, was Rukia's cell phone. Ichigo stepped away like it somehow carried a disease that would strike him dead.

Holy shit! I can't believe I just…it just…it broke!

Part of him wanted to strangle the girl for leaving it so carelessly on the ground in the first place. But then the other part of his subconscious ruled that out by reminding him that Rukia could do far worse to his neck if she ever found out.

For now there was nothing he could do. The pieces were placed in his desk drawer, and then he laid down to get some much needed sleep. He would deal with the whole thing in the morning.

--

The next day brought a beautiful blue sky, and with it, Orihime's shining face.

"Come on you guys! This is the best way to cheer Kurosaki-kun up! If all his friends showed up at his house to invite him on a picnic, he would have to be happy!" She shouted gleefully.

Her and a small group of Ichigo's …er…friends were walking down the street, on their way to pay him a visit (all thanks to Orihime).

Mizuiro coughed. "Just what planet does that girl come from…"

"Who cares, man!" Whispered Keigo. "She's totally hot."

Tatsuki whacked him with her fist.

Oblivious to what had just transpired, the bubbly girl continued. "This'll be so much fun, don't you think? It's so pretty out today!"

"Yeah, but somehow I don't picture Kurosaki as the picnic type." Replied Tatsuki.

"Hmm, you don't think so?"

--

"Ichigo…"

"……"

"Hey Ichigo…"

"……"

"ICHIGO, WAKE THE HELL UP!"

He pulled the covers up over his head in a futile attempt to block out the noise. "Go away…it's still early."

"LIKE HELL IT IS! It's already 12:00 p.m! Get your lazy ass out of bed." Shouted an annoyed Rukia.

The blanket was pulled away in a flash, causing the boy to finally turn over and acknowledge her. "What do you WANT?!"

She stood in an aggravated posture. And despite it being afternoon, she was still in her pajamas as well. "I want to know if you've seen my cell phone. I think I dropped it last night in a rush to get over to the shop and power up my Gigai."

He stiffened.

She noticed.

"…so you do know where it is."

"No…no I don't." His lie was terrible.

"Tell me."

"I told you I didn't know."

She gritted her teeth and, grabbing a hold of his ankles, pulled the teenager clear off the bed. His head made swift contact with the floor.

"HEY! WHAT THE F--- IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" He grimaced.

Rukia looked at him with the kind of demonic glare that only a veteran shinigami could muster. It implied a slow and painful death if all demands were not met. Ichigo swallowed hard under her intense gaze.

"Tell me where my phone is or I'll string up your insides."

"…no."

That was about all she could take right there. Patience for the temporary Death God snapped like a twig in the middle of a hurricane. She lost all reason and tackled him to the ground.

"TELL ME!"

"Grrrrr! NO!!!!!"

"TELL ME OR I'LL KILL YOU HERE AND NOW!" Rukia trapped him in a headlock.

"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"

He twisted, attempting to free himself. But in doing so, he lost his footing and fell back to the floor face up. Rukia was dragged down as well.

"Look what you did, you idiot!" Her voice was somewhat muffled against his chest.

Ichigo sneered. "Wasn't my fault. I'm not the one who's the crazed maniac."

Having just about enough of his stupid self-righteous attitude, she lifted herself off him and stared evilly. "Oh, so it's my fault, is it?" Her tone was icy.

He would have shouted a firm YES back in her face, if it wasn't for noticing the odd predicament they were in. He lay on the floor looking up into Rukia's face while her hands anchored themselves against his body, holding her own up. She was lying directly on top of him and clearly hadn't taken much thought as to how they were situated…but he sure did.

"Fine…" His eyes darted away, suppressing a slight red tinge on his cheeks. "I'll tell you where your dumb phone is. You see, last night I…"

The sentence was left incomplete. All thoughts ceased as the faint sound of footsteps filled the hallway, on their way up the stairs. Not just one or two pairs of footsteps either. There were a whole crowd of them. But his dad wouldn't invite so many people into the house unannounced…wait, screw that…yes he would.

The shinigami tried in vain to get up but found himself hindered by a petite girl laying across his chest, not having the slightest inkling as to what was going on.

"Get up, you idiot! If they find you in my room in Yuzu's pajamas, I'll never hear the end of it!

It was all too little too late. Ichigo should have known better.

-- TO BE CONTINUED --

Umm…yeah, so I wrote this after watching the 16th episode of Bleach. I was so ecstatic about seeing it that I had to write something. Just a pointless and mindless One-shot that somehow managed to make its way into a Two-parter. My fics have a way of doing that.

Nevertheless, all reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanx!

Foxmagic07