BY: Amagumo (Rain Cloud)

Ichigo/Uryû Story!

Bleach doesn't belong to me. That's a good thing.

Whee!! Here we go-o-o-o!

.Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Ichigo."

I, the red-haired strawberry being called on, turned around, confused as to what could be wrong, "Chad? What's up?"

Chad, Orihime, and I had been sharing an apartment for a few months. Actually, Ishida had lived with us for a while, too, but he left after the first week so he could go to college. He lived in a dorm room with some strange boy name Osamu. Keigo had stayed with us for a while after that, but he'd realized the connection Orihime, Chad, and I had with each other and felt much too out of place to stay. Which was good. I'd only let him come so I didn't have to hear his whining about 'not being included' and whatnot. I knew he'd leave.

"Ishida's on the phone," the Mexican held the phone out to me and I took it, "Thanks." We- well, Orihime- had made Ishida promise to update us at least once a week. He talked to me sometimes, maybe to inform me about a Hollow he saw coming in our direction or something. Just a way to stay in contact, he knew I'd be fine without his warning.

Ishida didn't really have his Quincy powers back yet. After that stupid idea of his to go to college out of the state (I was learning meds from Isshin, and Orihime and Chad, were working under Urahara for a while as apprentices) he never had the time to train, so his skills were unpracticed and immature. He probably had the strength to eliminate Hollows, but he didn't have the time, and he would probably have to work at it in any battle he got into. Put simply, it would not be as effortless as before, and he couldn't be bothering with it.

"What, Ishida?" I sounded bland, I felt bland. Sure, things were a little dull with him gone (less arguing), but I wasn't aching in every lith and limb for his return. I still wasn't even entirely sure if we weren't better off having him gone. The only thing he'd taken with him was his pompous attitude and our money.

"Ichigo-san, Orihime wants me to come visit." He stated, sounding equally as stoic as I did. He had switched to 'Orihime' a few days before he'd left. It still sounded strange to my ears.

"Then come visit," I said, ending the 'conversation'. This was the kind of thing he talked to Orihime about.

"I can't. I don't have time for that. I'm thinking that maybe you all can come over here." This was just as asinine as his idea to go to college!

I said, "Ishida, that won't work. We don't even go to your college."

I saw him nodding in my minds' eye, "Yes, but my roommate is having a party tonight and you can come to that."

Hm… somehow, his idea was getting stupider, "No," I stated simply, "There'll be drinking, and I don't want Orihime around that. She'll get hit on. Besides, Chad doesn't like unorganized parties," I think he noticed how I didn't say anything about hating college parties myself.

"There's no other way!" He protested, getting annoyed, "I can't get out of my studies!"

My own grumpiness was ignited by his, "Why don't you come here during his stupid drinking party?!"

"BECAUSE DRIVING OVER THERE IS TAKING TIME FROM MY STUDIES!" he squawked gallingly. I winced as it echoed in my head for much too long.

"Ugh, fine. I'll see if they want to come. What's the room number and stuff?" I grumbled. He informed me on the time and other specifications and I said, "Fine," then hung up.

Orihime and Chad were in my doorway, expectant, "We're supposed to go to some party tonight."

Chad shifted, "A dorm party? Ichigo, I might not want…"

Awww, how cute. Chad was worried about Orihime. They'd been together for a while. I still didn't know the details on how it'd happened, but when they told me I was so happy I could burst. Orihime wouldn't make me uncomfortable with her crush on me and I wouldn't have to worry about Chad being so much of a loner. You see? It worked out well for all of us!

"He wouldn't let us come if it were like that," I said, stretching to hand him the phone from my seat on the floor. Isshin had insisted on giving me so much homework I couldn't fit it all on my desk. It was more organized to do on the floor where I could lay all of my materials out in front of me. The impedient realization that I would have more homework assigned tomorrow was the only thing keeping me working now, at 11:00 PM. So I had to immure myself in my undersized room all day, living off of the bizarre creations Orihime brought me every once in a while at fixed intervals. She called them 'lunch' and 'dinner' and sometimes even 'breakfast'. Naw, it was food. It was edible, too. And actually, not all that bad. I just wonder why Chad never cooked for me… Maybe he was even worse than her… I don't know. I'd have to ask him to cook us dinner one night.

Actually, living with Chad and Orihime wasn't bad at all. Albeit from having no space and being completely and utterly impecunious, things were great. We had a lot of fun when they were actually home and I had no work to do. Dad didn't trust me enough, you see. He thought I was 'too scatterbrained' to work at the clinic, so he gave me extra work to keep me focused and working hard. He said that that way, I would actually learn something and remember it. I thought it was stupid. I mean, he let Karin and Yuzu work with him when they were, like, eight and ten. Without the immense amount of homework assignments. Yuzu still worked with him sometimes, but Karin had gone off to do her own thing. She was learning martial arts from Tatsuki at the dojo and striving to become a better baseball player. Yuzu like writing and photography. She was artistic, and deep. Much deeper than I thought she'd turn out to be.

Despite all of the work I had to do, I still had time to be a Shinigami. Though this was only because the Hollows were attracted to our apartment like moths to a light owing to all of the reiatsu we had immured and festering inside. This disturbed me, since Rukia had told me years ago that they came after high spirit levels after they'd eaten their own families. So, Renji came over yesterday on request and explained to me that my spirit level alone was too distracting to the Hollows so they came to me first. Good news, right? I get to save everyone by endangering myself.

"Well, we should get going…" Chad said slowly, as if I was missing something.

Of course, I had been, "Oh, right! In the car, everyone!" Orihime giggled in my impetuous panic and followed after me, "Bring something with you, Ichigo-kun!" She'd begun to call me 'Ichigo-kun'. I was used to it, but it sounded a little weird. Though not as weird as when Ishida called me 'Ichigo-san'. The only person who still referred to others by their family name was me. I still called Uryû 'Ishida'. I almost think he'd be angry if I changed that.

What was up with the short notice!? The party was tonight! How completely rude! I grabbed an extra pair of pants and another jacket, and a water bottle and threw myself into the driver's seat of Chad's car. Orihime climbed in behind us and Chad loaded himself into the seat beside me.

Yeah, I didn't have a car. Ishida and Chad were the only one's who did. I used to drive Ishida's car… Chad shared his with Orihime. Ah, who cares? Ishida didn't even live here anymore.

"Okay, ready everyone?" I applied torsion to the keys in the ignition and the engine roared to life. I took a drink of water and Orihime seemed to realize something.

"Ooh! I want a drink! Be right back!" she hurried out into the cold and ran into our building again.

Chad made a noise in disapproval, "I would've gone in to get it for her." He still seemed nervous about the whole idea.

"Chad, if you stay with her, she'll be fine. Besides, any guys Ishida's hanging out with are too nerdy to hit on her."

He looked over at me, confused, "Ishida's throwing the party?"

"Not… well, yeah," It was a stupid thing to lie about, but I wanted Chad to calm down. We were supposed to have fun tonight.

When Orihime returned, however, Chad's dread was only heightened. She had changed into a white blouse with quarter length sleeves and a tight black skirt that stretched just past her knee. Under this, a pair of cute, knee length black boots. Clutched in her hand was a water bottle filled with bright red liquid. Probably raspberry juice.

"Okay…," I said uneasily, "We're going." I pressed down on the pedal and eased Chad's small army green jeep out of it's tight position between two much fancier cars. I was pretty bad at parallel parking. Worse at escaping it.

Once we were freed I was speeding down the road, talking very little. Orihime and Chad conversed excessively, but I didn't really feel left out. I was lost in my own thoughts. I hadn't seen Ishida for months. Half a year, maybe. I wonder if it'd be awkward or anything. We'd probably feel like we were supposed to be good at our first reunion. You known, no fighting. I liked it when we quarreled. It helped me feel comfortable for some reason. It crossed out any possible intimacy.

See, if Ishida was a girl… he'd be perfect for me.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

I don't know. Maybe I was kidding, maybe not.

This whole situation was too damn convoluted! The thing was… I don't think Ishida's being a guy bothered me and I'd been interested in something further than friendship more than once. I was too confused with it to make any moves, luckily, but it still scared the shit outta me. I wasn't gay! That was not me! I wasn't! I could be with Rukia! Why wasn't I with Rukia…? Maybe I just didn't see her enough… Okay, this wasn't the time.

Before I knew it, we were nearly there. I was becoming lazy and tired, since it was night and I'd been awake for too long. If Chad's car hadn't been such a rough ride I would've fallen asleep by now. Ishida's car had always run so smoothly…

Fortunately we reached the place then, and it was easy to find the building he was in. As we made our way across the parking lot, we saw two people outside. One, tall, thin and willowy staggered back as the even taller, more built figure advanced. At first I thought it was a woman in danger of rape. When I looked closer, though, I saw that the wispy being wore familiar clothing and rectangular glasses. It was Ishida. Interesting…

We were close now. Close enough for me to recognize Osamu as the one approaching Ishida. He was not angry… though his flushed face spoke volumes about his blood alcohol level. He was aroused and wanting Ishida. (Ah, who could blame him? Ishida was hawt. I'd probably be after him too.) I would have laughed, but a shocking turn of events halted me.

Horrified, I watched as Ishida wandered backwards, onto the curb, "Oi, Ishida, careful!" Ishida looked at me, and at this moment Osamu blundered forward in an attempt to wrap himself around Ishida. Ishida was pushed over, landing roughly on his ass further into the street. He made to get up, one leg outstretched, the other bent to help him support himself as he got up. I could only watch what happened next.

It happened so fast I don't know if I would have been able to help even if we had arrived sooner. The heavy truck was definitely speeding. The being in it, be them a bad person or not, wasn't paying attention and instead of screeching and sliding sideways in an attempt to stop, passed over Ishida. His leg, the one laying out before him, was crushed, and the sound I heard, not the bones fracturing, but the horrific, dismal cry of hurt that tore from Ishida's throat tugged on my heart so sharply that I couldn't breath. My knees nearly gave as I started running for him before the event was even over.

Unfortunately, his leg hadn't been the only thing not to clear the car. Pretty much the same time his leg was injured, his upper body and the two tons of metal slammed into each other in an explosive collision. The sound it produced was bone-chilling. Orihime released a blood curdling scream and Chad ran right beside me, faster than we both probably ever had. Osamu, who I now hated in my seething, torrid rage, merely yelled out in surprise and hurried into the building again. He'd better be calling for help.

The driver stopped, and Ishida's fragile body bounded across the ground for a good few more seconds. His frame smacked against the ground at least three times more before he finally came to a halt. I stared at the crimson smeared across the dark pavement and choked. There was so much of it… that stench… I could taste it. I swallowed back the persistent urge to retch and slid to a stop beside Ishida. I fell to my knees and rolled him over so he was on his back. The right side of his face was already terribly bruised, but only a little bit swollen. It looked like his face had hit the ground right on, and scraped against it for a some period of time. Too much of the skin on his face had been removed. I looked behind me at the carnage once more. Half of Ishida's face was over there somewhere… smeared onto the pavement. Tears of fear, revulsion, and anger welled in my eyes. This only made me more frustrated and upset and I quickly wiped them away with my sleeve.

He was beaten. Scrapes and cuts decorating his body all over. As I scanned him I came across his leg, which just looked wrong. I could be glad that it wasn't twisted into some sort of freakish right angle, but this situation was so dismal… there was no positive side other than the damage being done with. Though his knee seemed to be pressed down into his leg. His leg wasn't bent, but it wasn't straight. It was… the bones inside were not intact.

"Ishida?!" I choked. I moved his hair out of his beaten face. I didn't know where his glasses were, "Ishida?! ISHIDA!?" Chad remained silent, eyes wide as he surveyed and analyzed the damage himself. Orihime stood behind us, sobbing, which compelled Chad to get up and go to her. Something had impaled Ishida's abdomen. I couldn't figure out what it was, but in his lower left, just below his navel, there was a strange puncture wound. I lifted his shirt just a little higher than the wound and swallowed at the sight of yellow bruises and crimson scrapes. I pulled my spare jacket out from behind me and began applying pressure, desperate to stop the blood from being pumped outside of him, "Ishida!?"

His eyes were open, just barely. His lashes were wet and I realized that tears had rolled down the sides of his face and into his hair. "I-Ichigo? Ichigo-san?" He blinked a few times, never really opening his eyes too much. He winced and tried to move, then settled for looking around and seeing what he could from his position on the ground and his half open eyes. A sob broke out from him and he tried to look down at himself, "Ah… Ngh…! What…?" He had begun to panic. He probably didn't really know what happened, "Damn, it… hurts…"

"Shut it, Ishida," I said, distressed, "Don't talk." I looked at him curiously when he didn't reply and found that he'd lost consciousness. That was good. I didn't want him suffering this. It pained me to see him reduced to this. I just knew he would be embarrassed later. Worried, I took a hold of a bruised wrist and searched for a pulse. I found it.

Sirens, in the distance. I looked over my shoulder once, quickly. For a second, I was almost angry at their coming. No doubt they would cart him off somewhere. I knew meds too! I wanted to help him! The idea of them keeping him from me was so unattractive that I briefly opted on shoveling him up in my arms and taking him somewhere myself. But I realized that I didn't trust myself enough to put his life in my hands. I could be possessive, though. I could hold onto him as long as possible. So, stupidly, carefully, foolishly I picked him up, pretending I didn't know the first thing about medical procedures. Ishida was not… I didn't want them to have him! I didn't trust them.

They were here, and I had to decide. I moved him away when they tried to grab him, "Take him to the Kurosaki Clinic," I commanded, "We're going to the Kurosaki Clinic." I continued, placing him deftly on a stretched and following him into the ambulance.

"Sir, that's not the best idea…" One of the less active paramedics warned, "The Kurosaki Clinic is at least forty-five minutes away from here. We can get to the hospital in under four."

Ah. Damn. They were right. Okay, okay. This was about Ishida right now, not me. I looked around once and spotted his glasses, "Oi! Chad! Pick up his glasses and pack up some clothes! Meet you there!" Chad nodded, Orihime sobbed, and I swung the heavy doors to the ambulance shut.

--END CHAPTER ONE--

Please review and look out for chapter two! Whee, a rhyme!