A/N: Finally! I'm back and ready to upload more chapters. I'm really sorry for taking SO LONG to finally think of a new chapter (I had thought about 5 storylines for this chapter). Thanks to those who continued supporting this fic even though it was on hiatus, without you guys, I wouldn't have even bothered to open my account. xD

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Chapter 7: My fiancée's sick!

Silence. Tezuka turned to look at the seat beside him only to find out that the once occupied seat was now vacated. Dust started to accumulate on the empty seat and on the things Ichigo had left the day before. After that night in the storeroom, he hasn't seen a single imprint of the entity he knew was his fiancée, Atobe Ichigo. Not that the fact that he was engaged had sunk in on him, it was just a matter of formality to call her his fiancée.

He turned to look at the seat a few meters behind him. That mysterious new kid had disappeared too. He paused.

Could it be?!

No, Ichigo would not even dare go out with a stranger.

And why is he even thinking of such things?! It's not that he even knew Ichigo well. And why is he even thinking of Ichigo?! He has his own life to take care of.

Tezuka retained his self composure and let out a sigh. For every 10 seconds, he would look at the vacant seat of Ichigo.

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It was a little after dismissal that he found himself in front of a familiar big metal gate. The gate was three times the size of him and was elaborated by French curves. There were no signs of rust and by the looks of it, it was well-maintained.

He pressed the doorbell placed on the wall at the right. A small sound was emitted by the camera on top of the gate. He knew he was being observed by the person inside the house.

"Hello," a calm, sweet voice was heard at the intercom, but it was slightly dominated by sounds of static. Tezuka knew that voice was definitely not Ichigo's.

"Hello. I'm Tezuka Kunimitsu and I-"

"Good afternoon Tezuka-sama," the same voice, though cutting him off, greeted him with politeness and respect. "Please wait a moment".

There was a rustling sound and the gate opened, letting Tezuka inside. He proceeded on walking through the long pathway surrounded by lush gardens which were also well-maintained. He stopped at the fountain located at the center of the pathway to check his cell phone for the nth time. He made sure that what he read from his mother's text message was correct. After all, if he's wrong it's not too late to back off the vicinity.

Kunimitsu,

I heard from Ichigo's brother that she was sick. Could you check her out for me? Thanks.

And yes, it was correct.

He climbed a big staircase and stopped in front of a big, heavy wooden door which opened in front of him, revealing a woman whom he hypothesized was the Atobe's family maid. He went inside, noticing that the house was empty and quiet that he could hear his steps hitting the granite floor.

"She's upstairs. In her room," the maid said, referring to Ichigo.

Even though it was only his second trip down her room, he had already known the place, as confusing as it may seem. He knocked at the door that was immediately responded by a groan. He didn't know what it meant, but he went in anyway.

He was startled at the site of Ichigo, curled up at the bed and was entirely covered by blankets, with some locks of her messy brown hair peering out. He hesitated first, worried that she might leap out and strangle him to death, but his legs moved involuntarily until he was beside the king-size bed.

"Didn't I tell you not to come in?!" she threw the blankets away from her. The shout caught him off guard and Tezuka nearly let out a shout himself. For a moment, they only stared at each other as if playing a staring competition. Ichigo looked like she was devastated. Her hair was wild in disarray, her face was dead white and her clothes were still the school uniform she had worn the night they were trapped in the store room, indicating that she hasn't taken a bath.

"Tezuka-," Ichigo held her mouth shut, her eyes getting teary. She jumped off her bed, pushing Tezuka aside and entered her bathroom. Tezuka followed her with his gaze as she held the base of the toilet bowl and hurled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a broken voice.

Tezuka was about to speak when she cut him off. "Look, if you're going to tell me something, tell it right now!"

Tezuka looked at her, she was groggy and her droopy eyes were suggesting that she hasn't had that much sleep. "My mom… told me to come here."

A surprised look crossed her face, "Tell her I got food poisoned."

Tezuka gave her a quizzical look.

"It's the pork bun. But since you're feeling well, I guess that's not it. But that's the last thing I ate before I became like this," Ichigo paused. "Now that you know the story you could go home. Don't you have homework to do?"

"It's Friday."

"Oh! So you don't do your homework that quick! What a surprise!" Ichigo said in a sarcastic tone.

A slight frown formed on Tezuka's face. That was not what he meant. Somehow, he felt pity over her. Even though it was not in his nature to be like this, he felt that he needed to stay and help out.

He may not have been food poisoned, but the way he was acting now must have been the effect of the pork bun.

"Well, if you're just going to stare there, you could help me get up."

Following his sassy fiancée's order, he helped her get up and ushered her back to her bed.

"You could leave now if you want to," Ichigo was getting sleepy, after what she had gone through, it's no question that she hasn't gotten any sleep. After a while, Ichigo dozed off.

It was getting dark. Tezuka looked at his wrist watch and found out that it was a few minutes after six. He decided to take Ichigo's advice and started to leave. His cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Tezuka answered with his monotonous tone.

"Kunimitsu," his mother spoke on the other line. "I heard from Ichigo's brother that there's no one to take care of her. I thought it would be best if you should stay there and take care of her. After all, she's your fiancée!"

Tezuka could hear his mother's giggle before she hanged up. She's taking this engagement too seriously. And what's more, she's listening to that devious Atobe Keigo. He forced his eyebrows to stop twitching.

He grabbed his things and scanned the dark room for a study table. He didn't want to turn on the lights, for he might wake up the monster which was on the bed. He found the table and flicked on the small lamp placed on top of it. He placed his books on it, sat down and started studying.

Every once in a while, Ichigo's sleeping form would catch his attention. He had seen her sleeping before, but it wasn't the same as it was at that moment. Her breathing was heavy and her face looked like she's in pain. Her long brown hair was all over the place, with some locks on her pale face. On some occasions, she'd kick the blanket away from her, and Tezuka would always place it back, and if she's lucky, Tezuka would brush off the locks of hair away from her face.

A sound caught his attention. It was Ichigo, making some noise at the back of her throat. All of a sudden, it started getting louder and louder, until she started to scream.

Tezuka sat there, frozen. She was having a nightmare. She started throwing her arms into the air and moving restlessly. Tears flowed down from her eyes and she let out a scream of pain.

Tezuka rushed to wake his fiancée up. He held her arms in a tight grip, but she was moving so violently that he was being carried along until he was on top of her. His heart was beating fast; he didn't know what's going on with her. All he knew was he had to wake her up.

"Ichigo, wake up," his voice was husky and dry, out of fear. "Wake up!"

She stopped moving, her eyes swung open, exposing her sapphire eyes. Her pupils were dilated, tears continuously flowing down to her cheeks. He had never seen her so vulnerable, so pitiful. She was weak. And her usual cheerful state had departed from her. He started feeling sorry for her, feeling that everything that was happening to her was his fault.

Her eyes closed and she fell back to sleep. Tezuka noticed that he was still holding her arms in a tight grip. He let it go, letting her arms fall to her sides. Tezuka took her in his arms and hugged her tightly, feeling some of her tears fall down on the hem of his shirt. The moonlight shone on the two of them, creating a shadow of their figure.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo," he whispered softly to her ear, feeling her soft hair on his face. He laid her to the bed and stared at the face that was once tormented by a nightmare. He got off from her and slowly left her room, catching sight of her as he closed the door.

Chapter 7: To be continued

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A/N: How was it? It was a bit too long so I had to cut it into two parts. The next one will be coming out soon. The grammar was a bit off since I don't have any beta for this chapter. Suggestions will be highly appreciated. Review!