The day was dark and gloomy. Rain poured down from above as a lone figure walked the streets. His flaming orange hair was the only thing a person could see since the rain screened much of his features.

Renji sat on a rooftop, staring down on the ground, and catching sight of the bright hair, he knew who it was. His cherry-colored eyes glanced up towards the dank sky, questioning why it had to rain when he was just trying to visit his friend. Though...he knew that not everything worked the way everyone wanted. He knew this fact very well.

"Just freaking great," Ichigo hissed through his teeth. He'd been on his way home from school and it began to pour. The weather had been perfectly sunny and cheerful until now. "At least it reflects my mood..." He sighed, glad the raindrops mingled with his tears. No one would know he'd cried. His feet led him to the front door of his home and he opened it. "Ichigo! My son-!" Isshin had appeared in front of Ichigo just before Ichigo's foot was planted in his face. Stunned, said father slid to the floor. "Ow! But why did-" "You are annoying."

The redhead blinked, grumbling slightly. His hair was soaked, SOAKED! And he hated it when it wasn't shower day, which happened every night. But it wasn't night, so that blew everything off, and including the fact that he was dressed. Sighing heavily, he plopped down off the roof, landing skillfully on his feet, turning and facing the door to the Kurosaki Clinic, pausing for a second, wondering whether or not to enter the house and ask if he could at least dry off to keep from getting sick. It should be impossible, but it does happen ever now and again.

After that fiasco, the way to his room was clear. Other than his sister Yuzu who was fitting Kon into ANOTHER dress. This one resembled a princess costume. Upon seeing Ichigo, the stuffed lion plush sent pleading looks his way but Ichigo just grinned evilly and closed the door to his room behind him. "Serves him right," he grumbled. The wet clothes clinging to his skin were uncomfortable so he figured he might as well shower. He would have to later anyway and the hot water pouring over his body would relieve some of his stress. He hoped.

Renji swallowed, raising his left hand slowly, curling his fingers to form a fist, praying that the orange head wouldn't answer the door. Anyone would be fine, except that insane father. Taking a deep breath, he knocked the door softly.

The oldest Kurosaki sibling stripped himself of the sopping garments and stepped into the shower, forgetting to shut the bathroom door behind him. It wasn't as if someone would walk in on him.

Karin scowled she heard a knock, quiet and tentative. Grasping the door knob, she opened the door to see Renji standing there in the rain. She rolled her eyes and stepped aside for him to enter. "Hurry up before he gets up." Isshin was still occupying the floor, lamenting about how his son hated him.

Nodding, the redhead headed inside the house, walking up the stairs then stopping, looking over his shoulder at Karin with a grin, "Thanks, Karin." Turning his attention forward, he headed towards the bathroom, humming to a song he had heard some time ago that Rukia just wouldn't stop singing whatsoever. Not even realizing the sound of a shower going, too lost in his thoughts. Continuing to hum the annoying song, he stepped into the bathroom, looking down on the ground with a quirked brow. Wait...weren't those Ichigo's? Oh...crap. Looking back up, he slowly retraced his steps back, praying to the Holiest of everything that the teen did NOT notice his idioticness of entering without thinking. As usual.

Karin shrugged and went back to poking her father. It was almost dinner.

The sound of footsteps alerted Ichigo as the soothing liquid slid over his form. Who could that be... Opening the shower curtain though so his chest showed, he saw Renji trying to back out of the shower quickly and quietly.

The redhead turned, immediately rushing away. It was an accident, and people say accidents happen every single day. True, but Renji highly doubted that they had also meant walking in on your friend taking a shower, not even realizing it until you see their clothes on the ground. He cursed his luck...twenty-four seven.

Raising an eyebrow as his friend beat a retreat to his bedroom, Ichigo sighed and went back to his shower. Wonder what that was about. A few minutes later, he turned the water off and yanked on a pair of boxers. Realizing he had forgotten to grab some clothes to put on after he shower, he sighed and walked into his bedroom. Going to his dresser, he looked for a t-shirt and sweats to put on.

Renji was hiding the best he could. No way...he did not want to see Ichigo after that embarrassment. Tomorrow maybe, yeah, tomorrow. Sitting in the living room after a few minutes of calming down in Ichigo's bedroom, he had gone down the stairs to see what show Isshin had been watching. And much to his disgust, it was a Health channel. Splitting open a pregnant woman and all that. Ew... Looking over at Yuzu, he stood, venturing into the kitchen to see if he could help her with whatever smelt so good.

Now fully dressed, Ichigo followed Renji's earlier path down the stairs and into the living room. Glancing at the television, his eyes narrowed. Another C-section. "You have no life," he said to his father. "This is a very important operation Ichigo." "Like you'll ever have to perform it here." Spinning on his heel, the smell coming from the kitchen enticed him to peek inside.

The red haired form grinned, poking his finger into the round bowl that once contained chocolate that he had helped Yuzu put into a pan that made him know she was making brownies for something. Lifting the finger up, he poked it into his mouth, twirling his tongue around it and humming at the warm substance in his mouth. Geez, thinking about it now...why hasn't he seen Ichigo cook yet? A chuckle fell from his lips at the thought of the teen wearing an apron and scolding someone who dared to stick their finger in the dish.

Ichigo caught himself staring at Renji as he sucked on his finger. Shaking his head, he went up to the redhead. "What are you doing?" The smell was coming from the oven. It smelled like brownies. Maybe I'll make some cookies later. "Why did you run away like a frightened rabbit earlier?"

The redhead's finger fell from his mouth in a second after the first word that had tumbled from the teen's lips. Swallowing thickly, he glanced over his shoulder with a, forced, calm look. "What're you talking about?" he asked, setting the halfway licked-clean bowl down, wiping his finger on his pants...after getting into the gigai he had dragged along with him and slipped into before Karin opened the door. "I'm not afraid of ya. Why would I run?"

"How should I know. You're the one who ran," the orange haired man put the bowl in the sink and began to clean the dishes his youngest sister had used to make dinner. The sink filled with hot water, adding soap Ichigo proceeded to scrub the assorted bowls and utensils free of food. "Doesn't deserve cookies… Dumb pineapple…" He muttered as his hands worked. To think he'd thought of making cookies for his friend while he acted so weird. He's not the only one you know. A chuckling voice inside him said. Scowling, he mentally punched that voice in it's face. Well imaginary face.

"Here, lemme help," Renji grinned, after all...Yuzu had used a lot of dishes to make the meal the Kurosaki's were going to feast on tonight, with his help on things she knew he wouldn't burn. Reaching his right arm over Ichigo's shoulder, he grabbed hold of the extra scrubber, pulling his arms back and standing beside the orange haired representative, dipping his hands into the water and cleaning the dishes as well. It eased some stress, he had concluded, and it felt nice to at least be helping Ichigo's family out. Even with the little things. Yuzu said it did a lot and made her happy. So...why not please her some more? No harm in doing so.

He almost started as a tattooed arm filled his vision. Watching Renji lift a dish and clean it, Ichigo frowned and sighed. "I might as well make cookies tonight... Haven't in a while." A sudden smile graced his lips as he remembered the last time he'd made cookies. Both his sisters had been pleasantly surprised while his dad praised him for tapping into his feminine side. That had earned him a punch in the dish washing was going by pretty fast since Renji had started to help. Soon every dish had been washed, dried, and put in its proper place.

The redhead placed his hands on his hips, looking around with half-lidded eyes. Okay, what to do next? Well...his clothes were freezing cold since he didn't dry them, his hair was still matted down by the rain. Nothing else to do but go upstairs and dry himself off, he guessed, turning and heading towards the stairs, humming once again to that bothersome song...was it 'Untouched' by The Veronicas or something? He wasn't sure, but it had a nice beat to it.

Ichigo watched silently as his friend left the room. Presumably to get cleaned up since he looked like a downed cardinal. Yuzu popped into the kitchen smiling while hugging Kon who was in his new outfit. "I'll kill you," the stuffed animal mouthed as they passed. He smirked and waved a goodbye as Yuzu set about getting the table ready for dinner. "Here I'll help." "Thanks," she chirped while getting out the meal for tonight. It looked like teriyaki chicken and rice with seasoned vegetables. "I'll go see if Renji is done." Yuzu nodded already concentrating on placing the silverware since he had taken care of the plates and glasses. Taking the steps one by one, Ichigo reflected on his earlier reaction to Renji sucking his finger. Why did I stare?

Renji stood in the bathroom, scrubbing his head with a pink towel. It was the only one left after all and he was sure it was Yuzu's, and biting his lower lip, having left his bandana and black hair-tie on the counter beside the toilet, growling as he viciously dried his long crimson mane.

"Hey Ren are you done?" Ichigo was outside the bathroom and noticed Renji drying his hair. The light coming off the bulb in the ceiling made the other's hair shine and Ichigo had a strange urge to reach out and touch it. What is happening to me?! His eyes were wide as these alien thoughts drifted through his mind. Inadvertently, he'd sucked in some air while this went on in his head.

The fukutaicho let the towel rest on his head, standing up straight with his hair in complete disarray, blowing air out the side of his mouth to get the strand tickled his nose. An annoyed grunt erupted from his throat, lifting his hands and pushing the long threads out of his face, cherry-colored eyes landing on Ichigo with a smile. "Just 'bout, why?"

"Dinner is almost ready." The soul reaper substitute said and cleared his throat. Chocolate brown orbs flickered from Renji's face, to his misbehaving mane, and then back to his face. He turned and left, going back the way he had came. Letting out the air he'd sucked in before, Ichigo promised himself he'd lay off the sweets. That must be way he was acting so weird, thinking about Renji like that. Or maybe it was pent up hormones... Whatever the reason, he sighed and dragged his parent to the dinner table.

The tattooed shinigami quirked a brow, then shrugged. Well...he wasn't acting like himself in his book anyway. Reaching his right hand up, he snatched the pink offender off his head, damning the color pink for all its worth. Tossing it over the shower-rod, he grabbed his hair-tie and bandana heading down the stairs to join the Kurosaki family to eat the meal that the soft brunette haired girl had made with a sweet smile. She seemed to enjoy taking care of everyone...now that he thought about it, that caring nature sort of reminded him of Ichigo. Blinking once he reached the bottom of the steps, he stood there, his left hand rubbing his temple. Odd, comparing a quality like that to Ichigo has never crossed his mind before. Neither had other things. Okay, he definitely needed to avoid Yuzu when she heated up chocolate and offered him to lick the bowl.

"Where's your friend?" Karin asked as she sat down beside their raving lunatic of a father and looked bored. "He should be coming." Yuzu was putting various dishes on the table including the chicken, rice and veggies. Bottles of sauce sat waiting to be used. What is taking him so long? He debated whether to get up and go find him.

Renji continued to stand there, but stared down on the wooden flooring, nibbling on his lower lip for a second, taking in air through his nose and releasing it while reaching both hands up, slipping his slender fingers through his hair and pulling the long strands back to put them into a ponytail, slipping his white bandana on next with a grin spreading across his lips. Luck may have it that he'd avoid weird glances for the wide grin on his face. Of course, who could resist Yuzu's cooking? No one, he thought with a chuckle, turning and heading into the kitchen, blinking for a second then chuckling under his breath. Karin had to suffer, that's funny.