Morning soon came about and Keigo, Mizzuro, and Chad and were all in their first class, waiting for Ichigo. Keigo sighed heavily as Mizzuro walked towards the window to look outside.
“ Where the heck is Ichigo?”
“ Maybe he’s sick”
Keigo looked up at Chad. He shook his head and frowned at the thought of Ichigo being sick.
“ I doubt it. Ichigo is never sick. I mean his family runs a clinic for goodness sakes!”
Keigo folded his arms again and just frowned some more. He went on and on about how late it was getting and that Ichigo was always usually on time. Mizzuro listened to Keigo rant on and on while he gazed out the window. He sighed boredly as he noticed Ichigo walking up through the gate. He always noticed that he was with someone else….a girl….Mizzuro smiled and couldn’t help but chuckled as the two disappeared through the doors.
Walking down the hall, Ichigo was talking to Maya. She seemed much better than she did when he last saw her. He hoped that he hadn’t offended her some, he would have hated to make a bad impression on her.
“ I’m telling you Maya…you could so take down my dad”
“ No way! He’s probably as big as you are!”
“ Yeah…but he’s not as strong…”
“ Even still he’s probably stronger than I am Ichigo”
Ichigo smirked as she walked ahead some. He shoved his hands into his pockets and grinned as she turned around. He started to chuckle a bit as he watched Maya walk back up to him giving him a really odd look.
“ What’s so funny?”
“ It’s just…you’re probably right…There’s no way you could beat my dad…you’re so weak it’s ridiculous!”
Maya frowned some. She put her hands on her hips and gave Ichigo a dirty look. Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh at her face. He couldn’t help but think that she actually looked really cute when she got mad.
“ I am not weak!”
“Oh yeah? Prove it then….hit me as hard as you can…”
Maya paused for a moment, thinking about. She took a step back and closed her eyes and swung. When she made contact with something soft she opened her eyes quickly.
“ ICHIGO! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hit you in the-“
Maya paused looking at Ichigo. She blinked as he did, then looked down blushing when he started laughing at her. He had caught her hand just before she hit him. He had to admit it though; she came very close to giving him a real good one in the face, not to mention that her punch was very strong.
“ Ok…I was wrong…you’re stronger that I thought…”
Maya didn’t raise her head when he said this. She locked her eyes onto the ground. Her heart was pulsing. She was afraid that some one might hear it. Ichigo looked at her oddly some, dipping his head to look at her for a moment in concern.
“ Hey…are you-”
“ I guess…I still gotta lot of work to do…don’t I Ichigo?”
Maya looked up blushing softly, looking into his eyes some. Ichigo paused and blushed softly, letting go of her hand while adverting his eyes to the side some. He huffed softly sticking his hands deep inside his pockets.
“ Yeah….just a little…”
Ichigo couldn’t stand this. It was weird, being with Maya and all. Even though he didn’t mind being with her…it was strange. He had never been so close to a girl, not like this. He slowly moved his eyes and was suddenly caught in Maya’s gaze. He turned his head to fully look at her as they stood there in silence. His train of thought yet again broken as the bell rang to begin classes. Ichigo blinked and shook off the star-struck gaze and looked towards his first class. He smiled at Maya softly.
“ So I’ll see you at lunch right?”
Maya blinked and shook her head for a moment. She hadn’t quite caught what Ichigo had just said.
“ What?”
“ Lunch…you know…that’s when we eat…remember?”
Maya smiled some and laughed, nodding her head as she turned to head for her first class before she was late again. She turned and looked at Ichigo giving him another warm smile.
“ Right! Will you come by my class?”
“ Yeah sure…seeing as though you have no sense of direction what so ever…”
“ Ichigo!”
“ I’m kidding! Get going or you’ll be late for class!”
“ Oh right!”
Maya turned around and started lightly running to class. As she ran she turned around and waved at Ichigo, smiling widely and happily.
“ Bye Ichigo!”
Ichigo just stared after her as she ran down the hallway. He couldn’t help but smile softly as she disappeared from his sight. He walked into his first class, not noticing that everyone was staring at him oddly because of the strange, peaceful look on his face.
“ She’s so cute…Her smile…her laugh…everything…”
Ichigo sat at his desk, now staring out the window. He sighed under his breath as he just gazed out at the sky quietly. He closed his eyes and sighed softly once more.
“ HEY ICHIGO!”
Ichigo’s eye s shot opened and he nearly fell out of his seat when he heard some one practically screaming in his ear. He caught himself and turned around to see Keigo staring at him in a half glare. Ichigo frowned.
“ Oh hey Keigo…”
Keigo frowned, glaring at Ichigo some. Ichigo blinked confused completely as to why Keigo was giving him a dirty look. He sat back raising a brow as he waited to hear why Keigo looked upset.
“ Don’t you “ Hey Keigo” me! What was all that about?!”
“ What was what?”
“ Don’t play dumb with me?! Y-You…and that girl! You two were together?! What are you guys together or something…and you didn’t even want to bother as to even tell us?! And where the heck were you this morning?!
“ Chill Keigo…I just walked Maya to school today…no big deal…”
At this point Keigo began to freak out. Mizzuro just sat back in his seat watching their frantic friend wig out while Chad just sat there quietly not saying much or even bothering to listen to the pointless yelling.
“ You know where she lives?! Since when do you know where girls live?!”
Ichigo frowned again, turning to face the window as Keigo went on and on about him and Maya. He ignored him completely as he sighed again…thinking about Maya once more. Not stopping himself from smiling just by thinking about her.
Lunch almost seemed like it would never come. The boys all met up on the roof of the school as usual, while the girls met down near the side of the school under all the trees. On the roof the boys began talking once again just about random things. Chad again sat quietly as he bit into a piece of bread, looking up and noticing that someone was missing.
“ Hey…where’s Ichigo?”
Keigo looked up at Chad some and shrugged his shoulders just a bit as he went onto eating his school bought lunch.
“ I don’t know…I didn’t even notice that he was missing…’
Mizzuro took a sip of his milk and nodded some at Keigo’s response.
“ Maybe he decided to go home for lunch or something…”
Chad said nothing and just went to eating his lunch again. He looked up in thought for a moment before blinking some.
“ Are you coming for lunch Ichigo?”
“ Naw…I’m going to eat somewhere else today…”
“ By yourself?”
“ Um…no…not exactly…”
Ichigo stuck his hands in his pockets, looking away from Chad. Chad turned around to see whom he was waiting for. Maya then came out of her class smiling at Ichigo and then to Chad.
“ I’m sorry to keep you waiting Ichigo…”
“ It’s all good…ready to go?”
Maya nodded, then turned to Chad and smiled. Chad smiled back and nodded, knowing why Ichigo was going off to eat somewhere else…he wanted some alone time with Maya…either way he understood and turned to leave to meet the others.
“ Oh yeah…that’s right…Ichigo’s with that girl…Maya..”
There was a sudden odd silence between all of them…then the silence was broken by a loud shriek..
“ WHAAAAAATTTT!?”
“ Hey did you guys hear that?”
All the girls looked up towards the roof, hearing a loud shriek of something like that. They all shrugged and went back to talking and eating as Rukia walked up to them with a weird, joyful smile.
“ Hi guys!”
Rukia was greeted by warm and cheerful smiles as she sat down and began eating her lunch. She sat in between Takski and Orihime. As they ate Takski looked up and around.
“ Hey. Where’s the new girl?”
Rukia shrugged slightly and went back to eating her lunch. Orihime thought for a moment, reflecting on the last few hours back in class. She couldn’t help but think about Ichigo and how he had been acting. She had him in two of her classes just before lunch and she had never seen him so happy. It was strange…before he was just sit there with a stern look on his face, but now…he was just so happy and always had a smile on his face…after…Maya had arrived…
“ Ichigo…why is it that now…you’re smiling, when you rarely have anything to smile about? Ever since…she came to this school…you’ve seen brighter days. I know…I should be happy…but for some reason…this sudden change in you…it makes me feel sad…like you’re becoming distant from me…from us. What is it then? What is it that makes her so different from me? What is it about her that makes you happy…and makes you smile…and laugh…and just be joyful altogether? Ichigo…I wish…I wish I could understand all this that’s happening…I wish I could be the one…that makes you happy…”
“Orihime?”
Orihime blinked for a moment. She turned to meet strange and concerned stares from the rest of the girls, especially Takski, her best friend. Orihime blinked again.
“ Hmmm…?”
“ Hey are you alright?”
Orihime grinned stupidly and nodded widely as she grinned once more.
“ Of course I am! Hey would you like to try some of my beef stew with wasabi and honey?”
Birds chirped softly as the clouds slowly rolled along the light blue sky. The door slowly opened to the roof. Maya stepped out onto the roof first and gazed at the sight. She smiled in awe as she walked towards the edge, Ichigo smiling after her as he closed the door.
“ Ichigo it’s beautiful! This spot is absolutely perfect!”
“ Heh…I figured you’d like this spot…seeing as though there’s no other people to bother you…I mean…I assumed you didn’t want to be harassed by Keigo all through out lunch…”
Maya smirked some, turning around to face Ichigo. Her eyes were soft and caring as she walked towards him some.
“ Or maybe…you just wanted me all to yourself…”
Ichigo blinked and blushed profoundly. He shook his head frantically as little beads of sweat began to form quickly.
“ No, no! You’ve got the wrong idea! That’s not it at all! I mean I wasn’t trying…trying to come onto you or anything…I’m not like that…not like that at all! I would never try to do anything like that to you honest! I just thought…I just thought you’d like to eat some where quiet that didn’t have a lot of people…oh wait that didn’t come out right…”
“ Ichigo! Calm down! I was only kidding…”
Ichigo blinked looking at Maya, then turned his head in embarrassment. A warm, hue of red fell upon his face. How stupid of him to react the way he did. Of course she was just kidding…Ichigo could just kick himself at that moment as he sat there quietly. As Maya began to unwrap her lunch she turned to notice that Ichigo had nothing in front of him to eat.
“ Ichigo…”
“ Yeah?”
“ Where’s your lunch?”
Ichigo blinked in confusion, then looked down at his empty hands. He sighed and shrugged a little bit, laying back on the ground and closing his eyes quietly.
“ Guess I forgot to grab something…oh well it’s probably all gone by now…”
Maya watched him as he laid back. She stared at him for a moment and smiled happily finishing unwrapping her boxed lunch. She plopped an extra pair of chopsticks onto Ichigo’s chest, which caused him to open his eyes quickly. He held the chopsticks in his hands and looked at her oddly.
“ What are these for?”
“ To eat lunch with…duh”
“ Maya, I don’t have a lunch…remember?”
“ I know…so I thought…I’d share mine with you. I think I over packed my lunch…and I can’t eat all of this by myself…”
Ichigo paused for a moment, looking at her lunch. It was quit big for just one person to eat. He sat up; still staring at the lunch that sat in between the two of them. He then looked up at Maya, who in return smiled sweetly at him in a way that offered him to have some. Ichigo looked back down at the box and broke his chopsticks. He reached for a piece of sausage that was cute into a shape of an octopus. He stuck it in his mouth and ate it, a wide, happy grin on his face.
“ This is good!”
Maya blushed softly and laughed as he dug back into the lunch. She couldn’t help but just watch him eat. It made her happy that he enjoyed her cooking. Ichigo looked back up at Maya, seeing that she was smiling while he was stuffing his face. He swallowed what food he had stuffed in his mouth and blushed softly, looking away from her.
“ What’s wrong?”
“ Go on…you got to eat something too. I can’t sit here and eat all this food…I mean you did make this for yourself…after all…”
Maya blushed softly and smiled, nodding before reaching in and taking out a pickle shaped like a flower. She plopped it in her mouth and smiled happily. Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh softly under his breath. It was nice, just the two of them…he had to admit though, it was a bit awkward…sharing a lunch with each other, just the two of them. He didn’t want her to get the idea that he might actually…start developing feelings for her…that wasn’t the case at all…
Or was it?
Ichigo sighed a long, happy sigh as he laid on his back once again looking up to the blue sky. Maya sat beside him, looking up to the sky as well. There was a silence between the two of them as they sat there on the rooftop. Ichigo looked over to Maya some…seeing as though she was enjoying herself…but he had something he wanted to ask her…
“ Maya…can I ask you something?”
“ Sure you can Ichigo. What’s up?”
“ I’m not trying to reopen old wounds…but I want to know something. Were your parents killed by Hollows?”
Maya fell silent. She just sat there with her knees to her chest, not speaking. Ichigo paused in thought, maybe that wasn’t the best question to ask her. Maya looked back up at the sky, her eyes somewhat fine. No tears, but there was a little hint of sadness in her eyes.
“ Mmhmm. Both of them…my father died while trying to help the Soul Society capture a stray Hollow…and my mother…she died trying to protect me from a Hollow…known as Chaos...”
“ I see…”
Ichigo sat up next to her. Maya didn’t look at him, she only sat there, staring carelessly into the blue ocean that hovered over them. Ichigo looked back up towards the sky as well.
“ It seems…we both have something in common…when it comes to our mothers…”
Maya looked at him them. Her eyes became questioning suddenly.
“ What do you mean?”
“ My mother was killed by a hollow when I was about 6 year old. She was trying to protect me. The hollow’s name was Fisher…and unfortunately…he’s still alive. Somewhere in this world…I wasn’t able to finish him off…”
Ichigo sighed sadly. He felt a gentle hand rest onto of him suddenly. He looked down to see that it was Maya’s hands that lay on top of his own. He blinked for a moment and went silent, blushing softly. Her hands were soft and gentle to him…he hadn’t felt hands like that since before his mother died.
“ Maya…”
“ How awful…to have someone taken away from you at such a young age. I know…I know what pain you carry…that sadness that lingers after your own heart….every time you think about the one you’ve lost….I know that all to well I’m afraid…”
Ichigo looked down at their hands, seeing little beads of tears forming and falling down on top of her hands. Ichigo couldn’t stand this, and yet he sat there quietly. He could only assume that Maya was recalling the events of her mother’s death at the moment…and how sad she must have felt to hear that the same thing had happened to him as well. How helpless she must have felt back then…how she couldn’t do anything to save her mother…he felt the same way. Being only six…seeing his mother’s body on top of his…sitting there in a puddle of her blood. It made him uneasy; those memories that he still bore about her death. How his sisters cried for her…and how his father mourned…and now to see…to see Maya here…crying…not only for her own loses, but his as well. He looked at her as she tried desperately to fight back tears. She was strong…thinking back to the hall way incident…Maya was one of the strongest girls he had ever met. He admired that about her….but couldn’t stand the fact that she was crying like this…how broken she felt….the pain…he could tell at that moment, was way to much for her to deal with by herself.
“ Please….the last thing I need is to watch you break down like this…”
Ichigo gently took his other hand and began wiping her tears away. Maya looked up at him, surprised at first. His sudden act of comfort and concern hit her right then…she didn’t even realize that she had been crying…it just slipped out of her. Maya blinked looking at Ichigo as she set his other hand on top of hers, smiling at her in reassurance.
“ Don’t blame yourself…I know it’s hard…believe me, but you can’t let this continue to break you down day after day after day…or else…”
Ichigo blushed softly, gently gripping onto her hands in comfort. He paused in his words for a moment, not quit sure what to say to her…or if he should even speak at all at this point.
“ Or else what Ichigo?”
“ Or else…you’ll lose that…that…that nice, joyful, cheerful smile of yours. After all…you look much better when you smile…To be completely honest with you…I much rather see you smile than crying…not that there’s anything wrong with crying…It’s just not my thing to see a girl cry…not that big of a fan of seeing that…”
Ichigo began to laugh then as Maya blushed softly. His words soothed her in a way…it somehow made the sadness disappear at that moment. She smiled some, looking at him. Her cheerful self returned and she seemed better now. She nodded to Ichigo, who smirked, hiding the fact that he had become sensitive and soft at the moment.
“ Ok, ok…I’ll stop crying…”
“ That’s good to hear…come on. Our next class will be starting soon…”
Maya nodded as the two of them stood up on their feet. As they began walking down the hall to their class Ichigo paused for a moment.
“ Um…Maya…can I tell you something…”
“ Yeah…”
“ If…If you ever…you know…feel that you need to cry…for whatever reason it may be…you know you can always come to me…if you need someone to cry on…”
Ichigo blushed madly, but kept his back to Maya so that she wouldn’t see him. Maya couldn’t help but blush as well. She nodded and went silent. She smiled then shyly as she gently touched Ichigo’s arm. Still Ichigo didn’t look at her, but Maya somehow knew that he didn’t want her to see him blushing so hard.
“ Thank you…”
