Salvation

Warning: Very angsty rather pervy Ichigo.

Chapter 5

That last thing Tatsuki would have wanted to use to create 'new memories' for Ichigo was going to her house and having her dad talk him into helping him fix the family car.

Her father had never been good with mechanics or dealing with regular house and plumbing troubles, which made Tatsuki the 'fixer upper' in the household. Unfortunately when she had led a very apprehensive silent Ichigo to the house, her father had started complaining about his car making an 'odd noise' and her friend had just jumped at the chance to help him. She suspected that he offered his help just to get away from her altogether. It wasn't that he didn't know how to deal with cars... Their high-school had offered electives that dealed with mechanics and he had taken them three years straight, but he had seemed too eager to let go of her hand when a good excuse showed up.

Another reason why she felt as if their friendship had a impenetrable barrier separating them. It wasn't the first time they had held hands. Whenever he had been too shy to do something, she always had to grab his hand and lead him like a lost puppy. However... that had been when they were in grade-school. Now Ichigo had issues that understandably made him uncomfortable around her. Like the fact that they were older and that he had even considered having sex with her, in spite of it being out of stress.

"It's so nice to see you and Ichi-kun together again after so long!" hearing her mother's cheerful tones from behind the couch she was sitting on, Tatsuki flinched. Her mother was like the goddess of sugar. She was certain that she had already drunk at least ten cups of coffee that morning from how energetic she was moving around the house.

"I guess so," she murmured, her eyes staring absentmindedly at the tv screen. For the past hour Ichigo had been away in the garage with her very clumsy father.

"Is there something wrong?" no longer hearing the peppiness her mother usually carried in her voice, she arched a brow and turned to look at her in questioning.

"No," she lied after a couple of moments and her mother narrowed her eyes before nodding.

"If that's the case, then you won't have a problem taking drinks to Ichi-kun and your father. Men forget to refuel when they're preoccupied," both of Tatsuki's eyes widened as her mother smiled knowingly setting two glasses of water she had been holding on a table close to the living room's entrance.

She's trying to mortify the shit out of me!

"Why-why can't you take them?" she asked lamely, her throat dry. Playing good hostess wasn't her strongest suit. Frankly, she quite sucked at attending guests. Whenever a friend was over at the house, she just tossed a can of soda at them and said 'Drink up'. Her mother and Orihime were better for those kind of 'housewifey' things.

Looking offended, her mother placed both hands on her hips, "I can't because I have to match the drapes of the master bedroom with the quilts! I can't stand mismatching! You know that! It's chaos in there!"

What a fucking catastrophe, she mentally rolled her eyes. Her mother even liked matching the food to the dinnerwear they used. How any woman in her right mind could be so picky over the smallest of things was beyond her.

Huffing in both defeat and exasperation, she moodily got off her comfortable place on the couch.

"Atta' good girl!" her mother exclaimed cheerful before skipping off to her 'mission' leaving her completely alone.

I hate it when she does stuff like this.

Lifting her arms above her head to stretch, she grimaced over having to deal once more with Ichigo. An hour earlier she had been fine with it, but being alone in the living room had left her too much time to think over the new problems affecting them. Now it would be downright awkward to face him again.

Eyeing the innocent looking water glasses that her mother has unsurprisingly wrapped with flower-printed paper towels, she sighed in defeat and dragged her feet over to them. Ichigo would probably laugh his ass off at her for taking him something to drink. He knew that she hated doing that shit and avoided it at all costs.

Stupid drapes and quilts...

Picking up the glasses, keeping in mind to not accidently mess up the neatly wrapped paper towels surrounding them, she forced her feet to lead her to the kitchen where the door that entered the garage was located. There was no use in her leaving the house to go in there.

The closer she got to that door, the louder low male voices and chuckles became.

She took a deep breath, feeling nervous once again. She was honestly starting to hate feeling that way. Rarely anything got her flustered and lately her friend's change had been doing that to her quite effortlessly. It had made her notice things she used to overlook. She had told herself that it wasn't anything remotely sexual. It was just difficult to realize that Ichigo even had a sex life. He had been a runty dork when they had been growing up. For a time he had even been shorter than her until going through the mother of all growth spurts in fifth grade.

That was when he had became a foot taller than her, though his limbs had been too long which made him seem clumsy as hell. He had been bony, and goofy looking in her eyes. Then there had been the way his voice started squeaking and cracking when they had entered middle school before it changed into a more masculine voice and how his hands had been too big for his thin wrists... When he had come back from Tokyo she had begun to see that he had filled out better. In fact, he had been filled out for quite some time, but ever since the day he had tried to put a move on her she had seen the change.

She still thought he was a dork, of course. A boy she used to beat up easily during practice. A boy that cried over the tiniest of things. Not as a man. Not ever as a man. It was something she reminded herself as she put her hand on the doorhandle leading to the male voices.

Ichigo wasn't even her type. Well, to tell the truth, she could recall only a handful of times that she had gone out with a boy and those times hadn't been official dates, but more like friends hanging out. The one time she had a crush had been on a substitute coach when in seventh grade. That crush had vanished the day he had left so it hadn't been anything intense or worth remembering.

Finally opening the door, she went down the three single steps heading down to the garage.

"Oh, Tatsuki brought us something!" a glower appeared on her face at how her father just had to point out the obvious. He might as well had said she was wearing a dress or make-up which there was no way in hell that she would.

Though her father had been the one to speak, she could only see Ichigo's long jeaned legs peeking from under the car. In spite of the him being under the vehicle, she didn't miss the sound of snickering coming from him.

Thanks a lot, dad. Normally she wouldn't give a shit about what people thought of her, but with Ichigo there it was suddenly embarrassing the crap out of her. She felt like a little girly girl being given away by her father. He might as well said that she wanted to jump Ichigo.

Stop thinking like that!

"This will be the only time I do this! Mom is too busy with one of her drape/quilts attacks!" she argued while her father chuckled, reaching out for one of the glasses in her hands.

"Sure, sweetie, we know how your mother is," he grinned, his face covered in black grime that could only belong to the car. She didn't even want to imagine what Ichigo looked like.

"Yo, Ichigo! I'm not a table to hold up your glass!" she spat, angry over how her father was treating her with him around.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to be nicer!" he snapped, pushing himself from under the car. She swallowed hard at seeing his state of undress and regardless of how smudged up he was, he was practically...

Stupid Ichigo! Why did he have to take his dumb shirt off?! Her face reddened and she could hear her father chuckling at her expression of utter dismay as her friend sat up. She couldn't hide anything, but catching herself on time she put on a fully annoyed facade when he looked up at her.

"Happy now?!" he scowled at her before pushing himself up, his obviously superior height making him tower over both her and her father. She forced herself to only look at his face as she extended her hand holding the glass to him. It wasn't as if she hadn't gotten a good look at what he hid under his clothes.

His fingers accidenly brushed hers when he took the glass, and she almost shuddered at how odd it felt even if it was just normal involuntary contact. It was a welcome relief when he had the glass in his hand.

Put your fucking shirt on! Even though she wanted him to put it back on, he probably wouldn't. Ichigo had become quite a mess while working under the car. Even his orange hair had black oil sticking to it, and his face was mainly blackened making his damnable amber eyes stand out more. What she had seen of his leanly muscled chest and arms was even more shiny black grime. As a mess, he looked too interesting to her.

In the past she had seen plenty of shirtless guys, some even bigger than Ichigo, but seeing him was different and downright disturbing to her. It just pointed out that he wasn't the same wimp she had always known. His forearms were bigger with corded muscle and he actually had abdominal muscles that hadn't been present years earlier. It wouldn't be a surprise if she could bend a nail against his stomach alone.

Feeling her face heat up when he drank from his glass, her eyes accidently glanced at how his pants slightly hung around his narrow hips. She could even see a fair dusting of hair leading further bellow.

I've had it!

"I-I'll be back in the house! No one better bug me!" both of the very dirty men looked at her in surprise as she abruptly left them.

"What's her problem all of the sudden?" Ichigo wondered aloud once she was inside the kitchen.

"Dunno. She has her moments." was her father's reply.

"Goddamn it! What's wrong with me?!" she hissed, quickly abandoning the kitchen, hating to even think of Ichigo and his... chest there... All gloriously dirty.

CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! Slapping a hand on her forehead a couple of times to force her thoughts to become neutral, she headed over to the living room to resume sitting on the couch to stare uninterestedly at the tv.

She hadn't been able to think straight while in the garage with him. There was something seriously off with that. It was like her eyes loved to feast on the sight of him.

Can't let anyone else know about this..., closing her eyes, she stretched out on the couch to make her stiff body relax. It was shameful that for an instant she had been fascinated by Ichigo. It had happened in her room when he had sat too close to her with those eyes of his... and mostly the way his lips had subtly lifted in the corners when she began to show nervousness over how his skin rubbed hers.

Why did he have to become like this?!, grimacing over how she kept seeing his chest in her mind, she raised an arm to shield her eyes from the sun streaming through the living room window. This was starting to irritate and confuse her. Ichigo was the first guy to ever think of touching her and the thought that it was because he had somehow needed it pricked her pride. It wasn't like she wanted him to honestly desire her, but the truth behind his actions had shown her how little he thought of their friendship.

Hurt and anger tightened her chest. She didn't want to want him to see her differently. That was why she had just snapped to cover it up. She was obviously the only one feeling something because he had been surprised at her reaction.

I'm acting like an idiot. It's just that it has been a while since I've seen him with his shirt off... Yeah! It freaked me out! I don't even find him good-looking! Just like he doesn't find me attractive!, For some reason the thought that he wasn't attracted to her annoyed her more. She knew that she wasn't a femme fatale. Her body was too athletic to be feminine unlike Orihime's shapely form or even Rukia's own delicate petite frame. Things like her appearance had never bothered her before, yet now she thought about her small pert breasts and the fact that she had toned boyish limbs due to doing sports for years.

She definitely wasn't a large-breasted foreigner or a slutty girl like the ones she had seen with Ichigo. Her thoughts of how different she was from other girls were making her earlier thoughts seem dirtier. Like she was unworthy of looking at Ichigo's bare chest. That his body was more suited for girls that equalled him in attractiveness.

"I'm so stupid for even thinking this shit! Like I'd want him to...! Ah!" she fummed at no one in particular since there was no one else there with her. Her disturbing thoughts had been so embarassing for her that she hadn't even stuck around in the garage to take the empty glasses into the kitchen. It had been so fucking obvious that she was uncomfortable.

A shrill ringing interrupted into her inner ranting. It was the phone on the small glass table next to the couch.

Just what I freaking needed now. Someone to make me feel like shit by calling here.

Annoyed at how her inner ranting and self-badgering had been cut short by an unexpected caller, she sat up moodily and lazily picked up the receiver by leaning over the armrest. She didn't feel like standing up when she could easily reach it while still on the couch.

"Arisawa residence," she greeted boredly once the phone was over her ear.

"Arisawa-san?"

A bit confused over the feminine voice, she rested her back on the couch and asked unsure if it was who she thought it was, "Kuchiki?"

"Yeah. It's me. Sorry for calling you like this... I know we're not exactly friends or anything, but I happened to have your number."

Wearing a frown, she shook her head,"No! It's okay! I'm just surprised..."

Rukia breathed heavily on the other line. "I wasn't sure if it was my eyes tricking me... I figured that if anyone knew something, it'd have to be you."

"Know something about what?" she wasn't liking where the conversation was going. Rukia was taking too long in telling her.

"I think I saw Ichigo in my apartment building," her heart skipped a beat. "He didn't see me, but I did see him."

"Wh-what was he doing there?" she asked curiously, starting to feel anxious. Ichigo hadn't once told her where he had been for the past couple of days. It had been normal to asume that he had gone to some friend's house or even a hotel.

"That's the thing... He was staying on the floor just under mine... In a apartment some girl lives in."

Her eyes closed at what Rukia had probably seen.

Ichigo is not very good in covering his tracks.

If Ichigo had been staying in Rukia's apartment building, then he had been about a block and a half away from Ogichi and Orihime. Staying in there longer than three days would have meant that he would have had a run in with the newly wed Shirosaki couple.

"Does anyone else know about this?"

"No. I don't know how the others would react to what I... Is there something wrong with Ichigo?" Rukia was obviously taking care of what she said.

"Did you figure it out too? His problem?" Tatsuki knew that she had figured something out most of all if she living right above the place he had been staying at.

"I try not to think about it... I mean-Is he alright? He's been gone for the last year and hearing those things in the same building I live in... It just made me worry a bit. We're not together anymore... I still like to think of him as a friend and if he's doing something he shouldn't I'd like to know just to get him out of it."

"I understand. I want to help him too, but it's up to him to change." It was a painful truth. He was the only one that could take that first step and in a way he had already made some progress in admitting that he was having a problem controlling himself.

"I see...," though she knew what she meant, Rukia had a hint of disappointment in her voice,"Have you seen him often?"

Gulping, she admitted, "Yeah. He's here at my house."

"Then I suppose that seeing me wouldn't help. The last time we had seen each other... things had been too hard for us."

Tatsuki didn't reply, not wanting to upset her. She had never particularly cared for the other girl, but telling her that, yes, Ichigo didn't only want to see her or anyone else would be like a direct insult. It was already proving to be difficult even for her to get him to relax. He still had that lingering air of detachment and 'don't get to close to me' about him.

Ichigo wasn't ready for dealing with all of them at once. If he had ran away after learning of Orihime's pregnancy and seeing her disgust at what he had been doing at a public parking lot, then she didn't want to imagine what he would do if something of much bigger scale where to happen.

"He's not good, is he?" hearing Rukia's earnest concerned voice just made her remember how bad things had become.

"No, he's not."

"If there's anything I can do, just call me."

"I... I don't have your cell phone number."

"Oh...!"

For the next couple of minutes, she had to search for a pen and paper to take Rukia's number down. When she finally noted it down, she spent a while longer talking to her. By that time she had already moved to the kitchen where she had first found the pen and paper.

"Just know that you can call me if anything happens," Rukia reminded her once she had confirmed that she had her number.

"I'll keep that in mind... Thanks, Kuchiki."

Saying their farewells, both of them hung up at the same time. Clicking the off button on the small cordless phone, she set it on the counter and let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Closing her eyes, she put both fists on the counter on either sides of small paper square with Kuchiki's number. Things were going to start getting very complicated. She knew it if Ichigo continued to avoid everyone. Kuchiki's call proved it.

This isn't helping him. He could get worse, but I can't just force him to see them either.

Running into someone by accident could set him off.

"Damn it!" she hissed to herself.

"Who was that?"

All blood drained from her face upon hearing Ichigo's suddenly hard question.

Spinning around, she saw him standing there rigidly, still shirtless, blast him. Her father was probably still in the garage.

Discreetly, she snaked one of her hands behind her to grab the paper with number jotted on it and put into her back pocket.

"Someone that just called."

"Is that right?" he narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought I heard you say 'Kuchiki', unless I need to get my fucking hearing checked."

Her eyes widened. Ichigo was testing her and had already known who had been speaking to her. Apparently the fact that she had unknowingly lied to him had pissed him off.

Ichigo was stiff, but breathing heavily, like that day in her bedroom when she had to grab him by the shirt to get him in. It was sometimes hard to forget that he was no longer the same boy she had grown up with. Other than the fact that he was much bigger than her, he was probably better trained in fighting due to being a shinigami and his demeanor altogether was unstable. Anything could set him off.

Not knowing what to say, since he was clearly accusing her of lying, she ran a hand through her messy short black hair in frustration.

"Fine, it was her! Got a problem with it?!" If he was pissed at her for trying to lie to him, then she was pissed for him being an asshole about it.

Clenching his jaw, he shot a glance over his shoulder to where the half-way closed door to the garage was.

"I'd rather talk about this where no one can hear us."

One of her brows raised.

Talk or argue?

Grinding her own molars when his angry amber eyes looked at her once more, she gritted, "Fine! Let's go to the backyard."

Not surprised over him not saying anything, she walked to another door in the kitchen and pushed it open to reveal a small grassy space. In the past it used to have a playground set and even a punching bag that she had used for at home practice, but since graduating those things were no longer neccessary. With psychology as a major most of her training was left for her free-time at the college's own gym.

He followed her to the middle of the small yard that was only closed off with ten-foot tall wooden fencing from the backyards of other houses.

Once she was sure that he was ready, she turned and crossed her arms ready to hear him going off. That was what he obviously wanted to do at present from how much angrier he appeared now that they were in a open space that looked good for yelling.

"What did she want?"

She stared at him, her heart begining to pound strangely. Why was it that her body was reacting to his annoyance? He was doing an admirable job at hiding it, but she seemed to be having a physical reaction similar to barely contained rage.

Weird... Usually that kind of thing happened when Orihime was upset; never with anyone else.

"She wanted to know if there was something wrong with you," he continued to stare down at her and though he was an arm's distance from her, he was turning out to be intimidating. She hated when people had her feeling weak and he was doing that easily by remaining silently angry. Why didn't he just blow up or yell at her? It would have been easier for her to handle.

"So, you told her I was back."

"No, I didn't have to," now her anger was begining to rise because of exactly how Rukia had discovered his presence in Karakura. "You and your little girlfriend that lives right under her own apartment were quite noisy while numbing down." She couldn't keep the edgy sarcasm from her tone and face.

"What...?" he blinked, a bit of dismay and confusion on his face.

"You heard me. She saw you in her building and figured that something was up with you and ended up calling me," she pointed sharply at herself, "of all people to know how you are really doing!"

"And what did you tell her?!" he suddenly snapped. "Did you tell her that I was going all around town fucking any girl that crosses my path?! That I'm a freaking mess?! Or that I need everybody's," he raised his arms in annoyance,"to help because I'm a crazy sex addict?!"

"Ichigo, I never once said that about you or even thought it!" she spat, finally relieved that he was letting it at all out. It would have been bad to go off on someone that didn't fight back.

"You've never thought about it?! TATSUKI, THE MOMENT YOU SAW ME AT THAT PARKING LOT YOU WERE JUDGING ME!" he bellowed thunderously, his whole body shaking in anger, stunning her at the force of his shout.

"THAT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A PROBLEM! YOU NEED HELP!"

"And who the fuck said I wanted help?" he asked darkly as she gaped. "Ever since you showed up trying to help me move on, I feel worse, Tatsuki! Do you think I'm proud of admitting that shit to you to later have you rubbing it in?! HUH?!"

Breathing heavily while mentally counting to ten, she tried her hardest to calm down.

"Ichigo," she began, closing her eyes. "I am sorry for being a total bitch about it, but seeing you doing that took me by surprise."

He snorted, "Yeah. I'm sure it did. You yourself said that it wasn't any of your business."

What could she tell him? That it bothered her to the bone that he was degrading himself foolishly? That he had almost tossed away the respectful barrier of their long-time friendship because he had clearly not given a damn and only cared for his own suffering?

This wasn't the Ichigo she knew. That Ichigo was gone, but she had stupidly wished that somewhere within him he was still the same.

"It's none of my business-"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU FUCKING INSISTING?! I DON'T WANT HELP!"

Ichigo..., snapping her eyes open to study him now, he was completely unrecognizable to her. He furious and panting as if having an inner struggle from going off further. His familiar features were hardened as were his eyes that glittered at her accusingly.

"Do you honestly want to keep living this way, Ichigo?" she asked quietly.

His eyes widened slightly, though his angered expression didn't change.

"It's my business and I can stop whenever I want to. It's not like it's that big a problem," there was a betraying tremble in his voice that proved otherwise. He doubted himself.

Not believing him, she'd had it with his sudden bout of denial, "Then what about what you said by the river?! You admitted it, Ichigo! You know that you have a problem!"

He flinched at her words, yet he continued to stubbornly glare at her.

"It's still my," he pointed at his bare chest as she scoffed at him,"problem." his eyes narrowed in malice before he said his next words, "You know if you got fucked you wouldn't be so uptight about this shit!"

Her jaw dropped in disbelief at how far he had gone to get back at her.

"You little mother-fucker!" she hissed and for once, he showed that he was smart by taking a step back in apprehension. "You're so going to pay for saying that!"

His eyes were huge as she let out a yell of pure rage and leapt at him. Her stomach managed to hit him in the shoulder at her high jumping and the strength behind it had him fall on the grass with her on top.

He's dead! FUCKING DEAD!

Since he was stunned, she sat up on his chest and punched him directly in his mouth. It wasn't hard enough to knock his teeth down his throat but it was enough to split his lip. Apparently her blow was what gave him enough energy to grab her by the shoulders to easily shove her off to the side. Not giving a shit that her back had hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her lungs, she leapt at him again as he was trying to stand up holding a hand to his bleeding mouth.

"FUCK, TATSUKI!" he shouted in surprise as she knocked him back on the ground by lunging at his side. Wrestling to remain on top of his larger frame, she grabbed one of his arms and twisted it while stradding the side of his hips.

"CRAP! GET THE FUCK OFFA ME!"

Ignoring his pained yelling, she forced him on his stomach as he tried to buck her off, her hold still vicelike on his arm. Bending it so that his hand was nearly touching between his shoulderblades, she spat, "TAKE IT BACK!"

"FUCK NO! LEMME GO!" he tried to sharply raise his hips so she would fall off him, but she wrapped her legs around him, locking them firmly in place with her ankles. Her legs were strong and long enough to clamp him down.

"NOT UNTIL YOU TAKE THAT SHIT BACK, YOU DUMBASS OR I'LL SNAP YOUR ARM OFF!" she pushed his hand down on his back and he choked out a yelp of agony. His insult had broken a dam in her. She knew that she wasn't that 'kind of girl'... Having him be so crude about it had just set her off.

"NOOOOOOO!" the side of his face that wasn't pinned to the ground was flushed in anger.

That's it! He wants a fight, I'll give him a fight!

"STUBBORN ASSHOLE!" using both hands to hold his already twisted arm, she raised them higher up his back and he cried out at all of her weight and strength being put on the pulling.

"AHAHAH! GEEZ!" what sounded like a laugh escaped him.

Her brows shot up at that. For him to laugh while in obvious pain was just plain crazy. What she didn't know was that he wasn't laughing because he liked the pain being inflicted on him. He was actually laughing because he finally had her in his trap.

Lifting his free arm, he pushed his palm flatly on the ground to not only roll her off him, but with him still attached to her.

The oxygen of her lungs left in a loud 'whoosh!' when all of his weight landed and pinned her chest.

"DAMN YOU, ICHIGO!" she yelled at his back as he shook in loud laughter, holding her down. Her hands were being held prisoner by not only his twisted arm but by his back as well. All of his weight was paralyzing her.

"GET THE HELL OFF, YOU'RE HEAVY!" having his rear pressing between her legs was the most embarassing thing to ever happen to her. She felt him purposely press that area of his down on her, to rub her own pants over her privates. Her face reddened in mortification at what he was doing. He had undulated against her to create some friction yet it had been so brief that she began to doubt that he even knew he had done it.

"YOU DID IT TO ME, I'LL DO IT TO YOU!" far from angry his shout was laced in laughter at how she had underestimated his own strength. He had been playing easy to get her guard down.

Oh, no... He can't be planning to...!

Suddenly his weight abandoned her and the moment she sucked some oxygen into her deprived lungs, she was suddenly flipped on her stomach, the side of her face hitting the grass. Her wild eyes saw that the area they had been wrestling in had patches of grass missing. If she didn't know any better, those missing pieces were probably stuck to both her and Ichigo.

He didn't warn her when he jammed a hand under her body to grab one of her wrists that was under her stomach. She gaped at what he was about to do. He was going to twist her arm now. His weight settled over the back of her hips, easily holding her in place. He didn't even need to wrap his legs around her like she had to do with him.

Crap! He's stronger than I gave him credit for!

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" she yelled when her much smaller arm was pulled up to the middle of her own back. "FUCK! STOP IT!"

"You shouldn't have tried to pick a fight with me, Tatsuki," his words were solemn now and though she was in pain, she grimaced trying to move her eyes to look at him sitting on her ass.

"You... asshole!" she hissed through her teeth as he held her arm in that painful angle. Her shoulder muscles were aching increadibly at being stretched so far.

Hearing his soft scoff, she was relieved when his hands left her arm and his weight was no longer on top of her. He sat down on the ground beside her trembling form as she eyed him warily.

He didn't appear to want to continue the fight. In fact, he looked like he was downtrodden once more as he panted, resting his elbows on his knees, his eyes staring at the grass. She wondered if she was as big as mess as him. He now had dirt plastered on one side of his face and even chunks of it in his hair.

"You really... went overboard," she gasped while straightening her abused arm to lay it beside her stretched out body. His reply was just another scoff and a slight smile playing on his lips. He still refused to look at her, perhaps out of embarassment at fighting her like a little kid.

"You started it," he finally said as she stared at him silently.

"If it makes you... feel better to blame someone other than yourself, so be it," she growled breathlessly and wasn't surprised when his eyes snapped to her face.

"Is that what you think I've been doing this whole time? Blaming everyone but myself?!"

Here we go again. Rolling her eyes at his sudden mood-swing, she rolled on her back.

"You're awfully touchy," her eyes lazily looked up at the deceptive still blue sky hanging above them. The weather always seemed to not match her mood. At the present moment, she felt as if a storm were raging inside of her. Her chest was filled with it. "All of us have problems and have different ways of handling them." pointing at his direction absentmindedly while still looking at the sky, she stated, "You use sex, I use fighting, Ishida uses putting people he doesn't like down or at least trying to...," trailing off she didn't want to say more. She had been about to use Orihime as an example as well and that would have just made him angrier.

"So this was you numbing down on me?"

"I guess you can say that!" she coughed out a laugh upon realizing that punching and wrestling with him had indeed helped soothe her temper.

The sound of him coming closer to her didn't alarm her like it should of had. Feeling his body heat too brush her skin without touching, she raised a brow in questioning to look at him.

He was now sitting close enough to become uncomfortable, his eyes showing some sort of silent intent.

"What's up with you?"

Smirking slowly, he whispered,"I'm still mad at you."

"Yeah, so?" she raised herself on her elbows, frowning at him. It wasn't that big a revelation, but it was off that he would smile about that. There was something about his smile that barely showed any teeth that reminded her of the girl at the parking lot. It was just a quirk lifting the side of his lips that didn't hold any warmth or humor.

Don't tell me he's going to...

When he abruptly moved to get on top of her, she yelped in shock at how his tall frame covered her own. Without his chest pressing on hers due to him putting half his weight on his strong arms that were on either sides of her head, his thigh went between her legs and she blushed hotly at the contact.

"What the fuck, Ichigo?! Get the hell off!" she snapped, her heart pounding madly while making the mistake of thrusting her hips to push him off. All she did was rub her own leg between his and at that he shut his eyes tightly. He was keeping most of his body off her, but when she did that simple movement, the thigh between her legs rubbed firmly against her privates in retaliation. She was so discomforted by it, mostly since it was a new sensation that she wasn't even getting aroused.

He's a dead man!

"Tatsuki...," he whispered, grimacing without opening his eyes, "I want you to stop trying to help me."

Her thundering heart stilled.

Is he... is he warning me?

"DARN IT! WHERE'S A CAMERA WHEN I NEED IT?!" a familiar male voice yelled in over-acted annoyance and Ichigo finding that a good time to stop 'warning' her, pulled away as if burned.

Please don't tell me they saw that!

With Ichigo finally away from her she sat up sharply and felt her entire face inflamed in embarassment at seeing a beaming Isshin and two very stunned gaping Yuzu and Karin staring at the both of them from the steps leading to the open kitchen door.

"Ichigo! You dirty boy, you!" Isshin laughed, clapping his hands but his son that was standing a couple of feet from Tatsuki was far from amused as he shoved both hands in his pockets to walk towards them, or most likely to the open door of the house to later leave altogether.

Gulping at what it looked like they had been doing, Tatsuki held a hand out in alarm and yelled back at the older man that seemed to be about to pull out fireworks, "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

"Oh, isn't it now?!" he exclaimed teasingly and then looked confused as Ichigo walked right past him without sparing him a glance to go inside the house.

This is just what I needed...

Her long-time friend trying to scare her away through sexual intimidation, there was a hyper-ventilating old man that didn't know when to quit, people calling her house about said friend's activities and now... Her eyes subtly moved to a red-faced gaping Karin that was still staring at her in a combination of both disappointment and confusion.

Crap. I'm going to have a whole lot of explaining to do, closing her eyes, she hung her head, feeling absolutely overwhelmed.

***

A/N: DAMN YOU, ISSHIN! WHY DID YOU INTERRUPT ICHI-KUN?! (I came up with that nickname since I doubt that Tat's mom but just call him plain out 'Ichigo'. Hehehehe) Tatsuki is kinda liking him a bit too much and is mad about it...! *smiles* Was listening to She Wants Revenge-I Don't Wanna Fall In Love Weird song (since it's a male POV) but it kinda fit; plus I like depressing/techno. LMAO

Please rate and/or review! Including shadow readers! =)