Disclaimer: Tatsuki and Ichigo belong to Tite Kubo the mangka of Bleach. Also this chapter may contain spoilers depending on where you are following Bleach.

A First Kiss

Orihime was the kind of girl guys fantasied about she was beautiful and sweet. She was the epitome of femininity with her long flowing hair and curvy physique. Almost all the boys' eyes followed her as she walked down the hall. Ichigo was the only teenage boy not drooling over Karakura High's resident idol. His eyes' secretly followed her tomboyish friend, Tatsuki Arisawa.

Tatsuki seemed to disappear in most guys' eyes as she walked next to her best friend. Her invisibility played to Ichigo's advantage. If anyone caught him starring in Tatsuki and Orhime's direction they assumed he was staring at Orihime. His crush on Tatsuki could remain a secret. He could admire Tatsuki's lean frame and toned legs without worry.

He watched as she and Orihime would stop their approach for a moment to greet classmates. Every once and while Tatsuki would smile or laugh as she conversed with a classmate, Ichigo thought she had the prettiest brown eyes and the cutest smile. He liked everything about her, her hair, even her scent.

She didn't smell of flowers and perform or of grass and rain. She smelt like cocoa butter and Ichigo found her scent to be intoxicating. He continued to watch as she and Orihime approached. Tatsuki's dark hair swayed slightly as she walked. Her hair was longer now, and Ichigo was tempted to run his fingers through it just once.

The thought brought a smirk to his face. He knew if he tried to run his fingers through her hair she'd punch him in the gut just like she did when he kissed her. Ichigo thought back to when he and Tatsuki were kids and he stole a kiss because he didn't want any other boy to kiss Tatsuki.

Ichigo kissed Tatsuki in their neighborhood park in front of a group of boys from their class. Tatsuki blushed. Ichigo smiled. The boys started to tease Tatsuki and Ichigo. Then Tatsuki punched Ichigo in the stomach sending him down on knee. The boys ran away and needless to say none of the boys ever tried to steal a kiss from Tatsuki.

Tatsuki and Ichigo's kiss was a sweet quick peck on the lips long ago, but Ichigo still remembered it like was moments ago. It was his first kiss. It was also the only time he'd seen Tatsuki blush. His eyes locked with Tatsuki and the corners his lips curled upward as he remembered that day.

Ichigo and Tatsuki's "moment" was interrupted by Kiego jumping on Ichigo's back and yelling, "Morning, Ichigo!"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Tatsuki's thoughts lingered on Ichigo's smile. She wondered if her mind had fooled her into seeing Ichigo smile. It had been a long time since she'd seen him smile that way. She remembered the last time he smiled at her like that. It was after she'd reluctantly thanked him for kissing her when they were kids.

After stealing Tatsuki's first kiss Ichigo explained he kissed her to stop the other little boys in the park from kissing her. Tatsuki remembered how part of her was sad the only reason he kissed her was to stop some other boys from kissing her. Yet another part of her was happy he kissed her and she was the first girl he'd kissed. After mumbling thank you and helping Ichigo to his feet he smiled at her. Something about the smile he gave her was different it made her feel special. Ichigo hadn't smiled at her that way again until today.

She couldn't help but smile as thought about his smile. She watched as Ichigo pushed away an overly dramatic Kiego. Tatsuki noticed how Ichigo's muscles flexed. Ichigo was lean but muscular, and Tatsuki admired his physique. She'd playfully used any opportunity she could get close to Ichigo's chiseled frame. She wished he'd fight her in a karate match again or least spar with her in judo.

He has refused all her challenges since his one and only victory over her in middle school. She first thought he refused because was afraid he'd lose to her, but now she thought maybe it was because she wasn't the girl that wanted to train with. She saw the way girls looked at him. Now that Ichigo was a star athlete girls didn't mind his orange spiky hair. They actually found Ichigo's scowl to be cool.

A lot of girls liked Ichigo including her best friend, Orihime. Orihime was the kind of girl boys dreamed about. Tatsuki thought Orihime was pretty and she certainly had a better figure than hers. Maybe Ichigo was like the other guys at that school. Tatsuki thought maybe Ichigo's smile wasn't meant for her it was meant for Orihime.

Tatsuki and Ichigo were spending less and less time together. She wondered if it was because he was interested in someone. She could feel a change in him recently. Maybe Rukia had returned. She remembered how much time Rukia and Ichigo spent together, and how Ichigo changed after Rukia's arrival. Tatsuki liked Rukia but she couldn't help but feel jealous. She was happy to see more life in Ichigo, but she was unhappy she wasn't the source of the change and he left her out of that part of his life.

He never told her his full substitute shinigami story. Ichigo was still keeping secrets from her. Plus she could feel him pulling away from her again.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The sadness of that realization filled Tatsuki's eyes. She tried to push the feeling back down, but Ichigo read the sadness on her face. He wondered what was wrong. He only saw the sadness for a moment but it worried him.

Ichigo watched as Tatsuki's sadness, changed to compliancy, to anger as she took down Chizuru for grabbing Orihime from behind. The way Tatsuki protected her friends was something Ichigo found symbiotic with Tatsuki. He thought about how she fought to protect him when they were little kids. She and he fought side-by-side in middle school.

Tatsuki was strong and tough, but she wasn't powerful enough to fight beside him anymore. She would still be fighting beside him despite her lack of power if she thought he needed her. Ichigo's enemies were a lot more powerful than some bullies on the playground. As much as it pained him he had to push her away once again. His powers had returned and that meant he'd had to keep Tatsuki at a distance.

It was his way of protecting her. The less she knew the better. The further he stayed away from her the safer she would be. He knew Tsukishima targeted Tatsuki because of her connection to him. A chill ran down his spine into a pit of anger as he thought about what someone like Aizen would do to Tatsuki if Ichigo and she were to move past just being friends. Ichigo frowned. His power to protect his friends was pushing him away from a special friend.

"Good morning," said Orihime as she and Tatsuki passed Kiego and Ichigo in the hall.

"She's so beautiful", Kiego practically drooled watching Orihime walk away.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder at Tatsuki and whispered, "Yes, she is."

Velveteen: Finally, a new story :)

Peace in Chaos: Yeah, sorry about being MIA

Miko: You're back, when are you going to complete Fantasy?

Peace in Chaos: I'll finish it promise.

Miko: Whatever, Ichigo and Tatsuki that's not a pairing I see often.

Peace in Chaos:Yeah, I know but I think they have potential. If Tatsuki ever becomes a regular in the series again who knows Bleach fans may get a love square ;)

Velveteen: I like Tatsuki and Ichigo more power the love square. But what's with the title ;P

Peace in Chaos: I know weak title and summary, people are going to flock to this story ;P

Wow you've read all the way to this point (yay!) thanks for reading the story until next time :) As always please leave a comment or send a PM I do appreciate them all.