Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of it's characters.

"Why should I care? Why should I? Why is it that every time he passes me, every time he says hi, every time he looks at me, my chest hurts, my lips tremble, my ears burn, and my mind starts to go crazy?

Why, every time, do I, Tatsuki Arisawa, toughest girl at Karakura High, black belt extraordinaire, have to feel this way towards this wimp, this pathetic excuse for a man, a guy who bleaches his hair for goodness sakes!? This 17 year old, Ichigo Kurosaki, this idiot, this is the one I have these feelings for?

Does he feel the same way?"

Tatsuki thought this while staring at Ichigo's back in class. She always wondered what Ichigo thought of her. Did he think of her as a friend, an acquaintance, or something more? Whenever he would talk to her, he would begin to stammer, dart his eyes around, and even stare at the ground.

"This and more will be answered today," she thought out loud. At this, half the class turned to give her questioning looks, including Ichigo, which made her blush a deep crimson. Some of the students started to snicker, out of habit, but that soon ended as the teacher told the class to turn around. Ichigo looked at her with a "say what" expression on his face for a few seconds before turning around like the rest of the class. This made Tatsuki blush redder than the purest rose.

Once class ended, lunch began and Tatsuki knew that Ichigo would be on the rooftop. As she reached the rooftop, Tatsuki saw her objective and let out a satisfied sigh. She walked over and hit him hard on the arm. This quickly caught his attention and made yelp.

"DAMMIT!!", he screamed under his breath, " THAT REALLY FUCKIN' HURT!"

"Stop crying, you overgrown baby. I did that because I knew you wouldn't pay attention otherwise!" Tatsuki said with a hiss.

"Bloody women," he mumbled.

"Ichigo, I need to talk to you about something…well…important," she said, unsure of herself.

Ichigo started to have more interest in the conversation-so to say-that they were having. "W-what exactly a-about?," he said, stammering and reddening.

­She bit her lower lip and said nervously, " Us, you and me."

At this, Ichigo started to tense and his face started to turn a dark pink.

" O-o-okay then...ask away." Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head.

"W-What…do you…think of…me as?" She started to stare hard at the ground below.

"A very close f-friend...I guess," Ichigo replied, staring at her so hard that, if looks could kill, everyone present would be dead.

At this, Tatsuki let out a depressed sigh, making a staring Ichigo falter. She begin to think of the ever so important question #2. She found it with little success but decided to use it anyway.

"Do you…ever think of me as…something more?," Tatsuki closed her eyes, fearing the answer. She waited for his answer for a couple of seconds but nothing came. Out of dying curiosity, she opened her eyes to see Ichigo, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Frowning, she asked, "Why the goat beard grin?"

He looked at her with a now gentle smile, making Tatsuki blush a vibrant pink. He turned away to the sky to think for a moment about what to say. He chuckled and gave the answer of the moment.

"Well Tats," Ichigo said, his grin growing wide enough to land a plane on, "I'd rather not tell ya."

This caused Tatsuki to wither and groan.

"I'd rather give a physical response".

Before she could respond, he cupped his hand around her jaw line, tilted her head up, and laid a gentle yet fierce kiss upon her lips. This, among other things, made Tatsuki's eyes widen to the size of coconuts.

Slowly but steadily she kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him forward to intensify the togetherness of their lips. She moaned into his slightly parted mouth of which he caught and threw her a groan, making her enjoy the experience more. She would of stayed like that forever but eventually she found it too hard to breath and let go of his now swelled lips. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked up to her now smiling lover.

With a quick and steady pace she told him the exact words he wanted to hear.

"I love you, Ichigo."

"I love you, Tatsuki."

At the end of Ichigo's reply, they wrapped each other in a tight hug that could never be broken by anyone.

It was now Tatsuki's turn to grin like an idiot.

Unbeknownst to the two love birds, a girl with long orange hair and a set that would make any guy grin, had seen the whole session, from the kiss to the "I love you's".

She turned tail and dashed down the stairs, out of the now abandoned school (except for Ichigo and Tatsuki, of course) with tears flowing madly down her face.

"Did you hear that, Ichi-kun!?" Tatsuki asked, quietly but quickly.

"No, but I felt this and so did you."

"Huh?-mmphh..." He pulled her into another passionate kiss that she would feel always, or at least hoped so...

Chapter 1 over. I hope you liked it. This took me almost an hour to write, you know! Comments always welcomed! This is the revised version. Chapter 2 is coming out soon. See ya!!