wheee! tis the next chapter!

Okay, i just read over the reviews again, and holy crap. I made people cry. That is so AWESOME!

I hope this chapter elicits the same reactions!

AC does not own this. Not the story...the characters in the story. she doesn't own them...yeah...

Uryuu held his position, his right arm stretched out and his left bent back, the blue arrow glowing in his hands and casting its ghostly blue light on Uryuu's pale face, making it seem like he was sickly. Uryuu's eyes were trained on Ichigo as he danced against the Hollow that they had stumbled upon. Uryuu burned every twist the red-head's body made, every jump, every unplanned and almost messy swing of his arms; it was all so beautiful.

Uryuu's stomach twisted. Did he just call Ichigo...beautiful? Uryuu resisted the urge to shake his head, not while Rukia was standing to his right and Kon a few feet back. They would notice. They would ask questions. He didn't want that. He didn't need that. At least not in the early stages of his and Ichigo's relationship.

But still...Uryuu couldn't help but notice the agility Ichigo displayed. It was impressive. It wasn't anything Uryuu had ever seen before in another boy.

The Hollow fell, dissappeaing before it even hit the ground. Ichigo huffed and puffed, his back slightly bent. Then he stood, and turned around, facing his friends. His eyes and Uryuu's met and stuck.

Uryuu felt his heart beat faster. His breathing almost stopped. The way Ichigo looked right now...right after a fight...so determined and passionate...he was...he was...

Uryuu dropped his arms, as well as his head, letting the light glare off of his glasses. He pushed the bridge of his glasses up. Uryuu tried to make the twists in his gut undo themselves, tried to will them away, but it was hard. Not while he could feel Ichigo's heated eyes on him. Those deep, dark, emotional brown eyes.

Uryuu heard Rukia walk up and congratulate Ichigo. He stayed behind to look at his boyfriend from a controllable distance.

Uryuu hadn't been looking for it originally. He'd been looking for something else...homogenous, was it? He didn't remember now...all he had to do was look at that word and he was frozen. He reread the definition over and over again until it was burned into his mind; until it rung inside him long after the book had been closed:

ho-mo-sex-u-al-i-ty (hoh-muh-sek-shoo-al-i-tee, or, -seks-yoo-) n., sexual desire or behavior directed toward a person or persons or one's own sex.

Uryuu had closed the book on his thumb, keeping the page of the dreaded word. He didn't know why he had such a problem with it. After all, Uryuu was a homosexual.

The book was flipped open and the next word was found:

ho-mo-sex-u-al (hoh-muhsek-shoo-uhl, orseks-yoo-) adj. 1. of, pertaining to, or exhibiting homosexuality 2. of, pertaining to, or noting the same sex n. 3. a homosexual person.

Uryuu's gut twisted nauseously. There was no reason to be ashamed of the person he liked, he told himself. Ichigo was a good person, despite his more notable faults. He was smart, passionate, loyal, an extremely good fighter and one of the best allies (friend, really) that Uryuu had ever known.

So why was it that when Uryuu thought of the way his heart burned for Ichigo and the way his stomach tightened for Ichigo that feelings of guilt and disgrace would soon follow?

The next day, Ichigo came over to Uryuu's apartment. Uryuu had offered Ichigo some tea and asked him to sit down and make himself comfortable. Ichigo agreed to tea and sat down on one of the island's barstools, staring at Uryuu as he made the tea.

Uryuu hadn't heard Ichigo get up and cross over to him. He had felt his aura, but assumed it was just the nature of Ichigo's spirit energy at work; it coming out in waves, like crappy television reception, until it finally fills the area Ichigo is occupying. Uryuu didn't think Ichigo had moved until he felt two hands lay against his upper arms and felt the touch of Ichigo's wonderful lips against the back of his head.

Uryuu's instinct was to relax into the warm body behind him. He stopped himself before he did, though. Instead, Uryuu stood where he was, allowing Ichigo to rub his hand up and down Uryuu's arms, nuzzling and laying simple kisses against his head.

"Ichigo" Uryuu said.

"Yes?"

Uryuu's eyes focused on their reflection in the teapot. "When did you start liking boys?"

Ichigo stopped rubbing Uryuu's shoulders. He moved his head so that it was now sitting on Ichigo's shoulder. He met Uryuu's eyes in the teapot. "What?"

"When did you start liking boys?" Uryuu repeated.

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't like boys."

Uryuu didn't know whether he should feel insulted or throw the dictionary at Ichigo and instruct him to open the page with the Post-It notes. "What do you mean you don't like boys?"

"I mean I don't like boys."

Uryuu closed his eyes. "Ichigo, I'm a boy."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, since you like me, that means you like boys."

Ichigo shook his head. "I don't like boys."

Uryuu rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're not making sense."

Ichigo pulled away. Uryuu turned around and looked at Ichigo, he was leaning against the island nose, one leg crossed over the other, a finger scratching the inside of his left ear. "You're the one that's not making sense."

Uryuu crossed his arms. "How am I not making sense?" he asked calmly, successfully hiding the frustration that was boiling inside him. "You're the one saying that you don't like boys to the boy you are currently seeing."

"You're not making sense because you're asking questions that I've already answered." Ichigo sighed and crossed his arms. "Geez...and I thought you were smart."

The corner of Uryuu's eyebrow twitched. "Would you mind explaining why you can like me but not like boys?"

"You just said it: I like you, but I don't like boys." Noticing the frustration that Uryuu's twitching eyebrow was relating, Ichigo continued. "I'm not attracted to boys. I'm not even attracted to girls. I'm attracted to you and only you. That doesn't mean I like all boys. It means that I'm attracted to a person who just so happens to be a boy."

As much as Uryuu tried to keep it off his face, the shock nestled itself into his expression. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Does it have to?" Ichigo asked with a shrug.

"It should."

"Well, it doesn't, so that's that." Ichigo scratched the back of his head. He stopped, as if thinking. Then, he looked up, curiosity evident. "Why'd you ask, anyway?"

Uryuu's face looked to the ground. "Why do you have to know?"

"You're my boyfriend, Uryuu." Ichigo's fingertips adjusted Uryuu's head, so that they were looking straight into each other's eyes. "I have as much a right to know what's bothering you as you have to know what's up with my sexuality."

Uryuu's eyes darted to the side. "I don't want to talk about it."

Ichigo's thumb stroaked his cheek. "It would make me happy if you did."

Uryuu deadpanned, "That's not convincing."

Ichigo's hands fell to Uryuu's hips and pulled him close, so that they were flush against each other. Uryuu blinked, eyes staring into Ichigo's. That warm twisty feeling spread from Uryuu's gut as those eyes of Ichigo's stared into his. Those passionate eyes. Uryuu could feel the creases in Ichigo's brow. "Uryuu," Ichigo said, "do you like me?"

Uryuu nodded, eyes not leaving Ichigo's.

"Do you like me a lot?"

Again, Uryuu nodded.

"Then what's the problem?"

Uryuu wanted to tell him that it was wrong for two boys to like each other like this. They would be shunned from school, their friends, their family, society...everything. Their names would be said with disgrace. They would have to watch out not only for Hollows, but also for homophobics who wanted nothing more than to scare then straight. Or worse.

There were so many things, so many problems that Uryuu could list off.

But Ichigo was kissing Uryuu again, and all those problems fell to the back of Uryuu's mind.

Ichigo's hand brushed against Uryuu's cheek as he pulled far enough away to whisper to him. "You don't have to worry, Uryuu. I'll make sure no one ever hurts you." No one, Ichigo thought as he pulled Uryuu close.

that's chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed!